A Familiar Stranger
by Pheonixxsong
Summary: After being kidnapped by Death Eaters after Voldemort’s demise, a tortured Harry returns to a disaster-stricken world where no one recognizes him. Will he able to get his old friends help to save Hermione and Ron, who still remained trapped?
1. A Familiar Stranger

**CHAPTER 1**

**A/N - I don't own Harry Potter. Obviously.**

**A Familiar Stranger.**

As he climbed the mountain, his chest felt uneasy. He weaved through the rocks, his dark long hair flying over his emerald eyes, his breathing was staggered, a deep gash swung over his bearded jaw line which he had quickly patched up with his wand that was now held unnecessarily tight in his hand. His black jacket reached his thighs, blowing out in the wind; pain creased through his gut and made him double over, clasping the earth with his fingers, he shut his eyes tight. He looked down at his white shirt, stained with dirt and saturated with blood.

"Damn," he whispered, lifting it up to reveal a deep cut that stretched from his hip to his navel. He touched the blood, a voice echoing through his head,

_Harry, help us, Harry! They're coming! _

He shut it off, pushing the shirt down and standing on legs that refused to hold his weight. Stumbling slightly, he walked forward; he didn't know how long it had been since he had last visited here, years…

He pulled a glowing vial from his pocket, draining the contents, soothing his raw throat and numbing the pain slightly.

He ran his hands over his ribs and continued walking, but his legs gave way. He slid, clutching at loose rocks to try and keep himself steady, but they only came loose, sending him farther down the hill. His nails dug into the dry earth, slowly and painfully making him stop.

He felt his skin give a painful throb and he touched his forehead, grazed, along with the rest of him. Ignoring the pain, he stood, taking a second to balance himself, his head swam. Harry didn't remember the street being so desolate, houses clearly abandoned, torn to shreds or merely fallen down through lack of use.

His scar prickled, he pushed his palm against it. Harry walked in between numbers eleven and thirteen, the structure emerged out of no where, black from what looked like fire, windows smashed, grime covering the walls, thicker than Harry could ever remember it being.

He stopped at the doorstep; a jolt of pain went through him as the potion stopped working, he cringed, falling against the doorframe and clinging the handle for stability. He opened the door, falling immediately on his knees and leaving the trace of blood on the floor.

What was he expecting? Someone to be there? Grimmauld Place was no longer safe after the Death Eaters managed to get inside, everyone slowly left after they attacked, but it was still inhabited when Harry left… he was sure of it.

Harry stumbled into the ash-filled kitchen. The air carried the heavy smell of smoke and dust. His throat was raw and parched; he moved to the taps and turned one on as hard as he could, longing for water to pour from its opening. He cupped his hands under it hopefully but nothing came.

"Come _on,_" he muttered. The pipes gave a defying 'thunk' sound but no water came out. Suddenly, Harry heard movement upstairs. Limping back into the room he was in before, he called out, silence came in return. His leg gave way underneath him and he called out again, louder this time.

He knew it was dangerous; it was possibly one of Voldemort's followers, he stopped, pulling himself along the ground he leant against the wall, gazing out at the staircase, every second stair broken or hollowed through. Harry gasped as another roll of pain hit him, he had massive internal injuries, he was sure of it. A bruise ran the length of his side and even when he had repaired it with his wand it jolted with pain through his ribs and up his spine when he moved. He had to try again, he had to find help, he called out, his voice cracking from disuse. A scream met his ears and he jumped in shock,

"_Look what has become of the house of my father's! Look at the misuse, the scoundrels! The people coming here with flaming torches, setting it alight like it was some poor barnyard with no money! Now a dirty man coming in uninvited and waking a sophisticated lady from her sleep!_" The curtains, which were now half-black, swung open and there was Sirius' mother, Harry blinked up at her, moving away so he could see the portrait more clearly as it continued to rant. Harry grit his teeth, he had no time for this,

"Shut up!" He yelled, his voice cracking, but this only caused more yelling from her part, how did she manage to survive all this time? "Is there anyone here?" He asked, her shrill voice met his ears,

"_To think my traitor of a son left this house to rot –,"_

"Your son is _dead!_" Harry yelled, seeing in his minds eye Sirius closing the curtains on his mother, his face turning to look at Harry, his eyes with the spark that left only when he died. "And I'll take down your painting and shove it in the fire if you don't stop yelling and help me."

"You can't" She replied, menace tracing her words, "there is a highly advanced spell –,"

"You would be surprised what I can do," he raised his wand. Sirius' mother's eyes bulged at him, but she did not speak,

"Where is everyone?" Harry was almost certain that with the question all he would get was an ear full of glass-breaking screams, but instead she talked, anger and frustration meeting her words, but talking all the same.

"I haven't seen anyone for years; this house was taken over by a redhead and her redhead family. They moved out and the young girl stayed for a while, then left as well… she had the same _rude_, fiery energy as you did." Harry felt his head spin; he closed his eyes and opened them again, trying to regain focus.

"The girl," he muttered, interrupting the woman's rant yet again, "where did she go?"

"I don't know, and I don't care," she spat childishly, staring daggers at Harry.

"Don't you know where _any _of them went?" The woman paused, she opened her mouth and went to yell, but Harry pointed his wand at her portrait, he had no intention of burning it, even though he knew Sirius hated it, it was something to remind Harry of his Godfather. The woman shut her mouth again with a scold,

"Upstairs," she muttered, pointing a hand out towards the broken staircase.

"Up there?" He queried, but the woman had already shut her curtains by herself. Harry stood slowly, faltering slightly, his heart beating hard in his chest, was it really that easy? He steadied himself on the banister, which luckily was still intact, although now a dark black in parts. Harry heaved himself up the staircase, the pain almost unbearable on his weak limbs.

He gazed at his hand, the index finger now a stump, he failed to remember how it happened, he remembered the pain... the blood flowing down his arm as he clutched it, a Death Eater laughing in his ear, he was eighteen at the time… how old was he now? Time passed, you forgot what day it was, what year it was, it all just melted together, one day trying to survive after the other. Harry was a lucky one, though he didn't feel that way.

There was movement in a room down the hallway; Harry moved towards it, his heart beating harder in his chest, his breath short. He stopped just before the doorway, and made a fist around his wand, then walked in.

Immediately a curse flew at him, he ducked it just in time; it hit the back wall, spraying plaster over the already dusted room. He grabbed for his wand but felt his legs give way underneath him, making him land face-down on the floor. He made another reach for his wand but something holding him down and stopping movement,

"I wouldn't move if I were you," the person muttered under his breathe, the deep voice was not one Harry could recognise. The ground was cold and dusty beneath his cheek.

"Who are you?!" Harry choked out, the weight on his back getting ever-heavier, he reached again for his wand, his fingertips brushed it. He should have been more prepared for a fight. He reached for the sword he kept in his belt, clasping the cold metal with his fingers.

"I should be asking you the same question," the man muttered. "Are you a friend or foe?" He asked suspiciously, Harry felt him walk around him, his boots heavy on the wooden floors.

"Depends," Harry said, seeing a hand come down and grasp his wand. The weight was released off his back. Harry pushed himself up on his hands then stood, brushing the dust from his jacket, one hand still on the swords hilt. He looked at the man; his eyes were calm and sprightly, a spark coming from them which didn't match the rest of the sad face.

A scar ran over the man's eye, and red hair was pulled back into a pony-tail and he had stubble covering his chin and upper lip. Harry was sure that the man must have been in his mid to late twenties, they looked each other up and down.

"Are you one of Voldemort's followers?" Asked Harry; noting the man's black robes and cape. The man tensed his jaw, sensing suspicion,

"What if I am?"

"I'm in no condition to fight," Harry muttered. It was a bold move, if it was Voldemort's followers, then attack could come right then and there. The man shook his head, still eyeing Harry up and down.

"No. Are you?" Harry ran his hand over his scar, which was covered by his jet-black filthy hair.

"No, no, definitely not." The man, still hesitating, extended his hand chivalrously to Harry.

"Then I apologise for the attack," Harry shook his head, grasping his hand,

"I would have done the same," Harry caught the man staring at his lost finger before he let go and lifted a box from the ground, pulling it to his shoulder and timidly handed Harry the wand, keeping his own ready in case.

"It's George by the way," he said, as Harry pocketed the wand. "George Weasley." Harry's breathe caught in his throat, searching the man's face for a lie. He frowned back,

"George Weasley?" Harry questioned, the man nodded suspiciously. Harry swallowed past the constriction in his throat,

"Why… do you know me?" Harry felt panic rising in his chest,

"The name rings a bell," Harry muttered, George frowned slightly but then nodded,

"Maybe you'll know where from later huh?"

"Yeah… I guess I will." George smirked and Harry saw the teenager smiling behind his new exterior.

"You never said your name," he said, walking from the room, Harry felt the tension diminish from George's words and felt himself relax.

"Didn't say it." Harry muttered,

"You actually look familiar… in a weird way." George said with a frown, again surveying Harry.

"Oh, yeah?" Said Harry, trying to remain calm, "like who?"

"…you wouldn't believe me if I told you," he replied, Harry breathed out, staring out of the murky window into the suburbia below, a jolt of pain ran through him and he clutched his side as inconspicuously as possible, when it passed he looked up at George.

"Try me."

_It'll get more interesting I assure you. :) _

_I edited the original somewhat – I've decided to make it as true as possible to the last Harry Potter book (excluding the epilogue obviously) _

_Let me know what you think thus far!_

_Pheonixxsong_


	2. Wounds

**CHAPTER 2**

**Wounds**

Harry had his arm pressed on his ribs, where the wound still glistened with fresh blood. George was talking to him, completely unaware of the pain he was in.

"How did you know about Grimmlaud Place?" George asked suspiciously, hand tracing a groove on his sword.

"Doesn't everyone these days? The cover was blown on this place years ago." Why didn't Harry just _tell _him who he was, some part of him knew that he wouldn't believe him, and he couldn't really handle someone putting a sword to his throat right now.

"True, but how did _you_ know?"

"It was in the Daily Prophet," Harry guessed. George frowned,

"Was it? Seems like a pretty strange thing to have in the Prophet."

"Of course it was, how else would I know?" This was the wrong question to ask and Harry saw George's eyes flicker over him, summing him up and wondering if he had misplaced his trust. "What were you doing in there anyway?" He continued. George lifted the box held in his hands,

"My family and some of my friends lived here a while back… There were apparently things left around here … I thought I'd come around and pick up what's left. We would have come back sooner but no," He cast a steely look at the house "it was a bit… hard, memories; you know." Harry slowly nodded, "and you? Just in the neighbourhood?" He jested, Harry frowned,

"You could say that," George frowned,

"Don't like to say much about yourself do you?"

"Not much to tell." Harry muttered, wincing slightly, he moved his hands to his wound and felt blood running between his fingers.

"You still haven't told me your name," George queried.

"James," said Harry, before he could think. "Hilt," he added quickly, "James Hilt," his hand still on the swords handle. George nodded slowly,

"James Hilt," he said, testing the words on his tongue, "nice to meet you." Harry nodded in response. The blood was flowing quicker between his fingers now, staining the dirt. He felt himself become light-headed - the colour drained from his face as he doubled over, a concerned voice of George coming as a muffled blur. He looked at the red on his hands,

"_Damn_," he whispered, before everything went black.

* * *

Harry opened his sore eyes to a light shining through a broken window, he coiled away from it, _where am I? _His chest was patched and wrapped in bandages, his jacket and sword skewed on the table beside him and a smell of soot and wood surrounded him.

Blinking madly, he sat up. Immediately a throb of pain ran through his body, he clutched his chest, leaning forward and waiting for it to pass; his body was paying him back for what he had done. Grabbing his jacket, he stuck his hand in all the pockets searching for something he was sure he still had; as he searched he heard a scream in his head and saw with vivid imagery Hermione looking at him, her eyes full of fear.

"_Harry please! Please do something! You always know what to do" _

"_I don't this time, I'll be back I promise, just be strong." _

Harry shut his eyes tight, his hand meeting a smooth cold surface. He pulled out a small vial full of bright gold liquid. Harry ripped the cork out and drank it quickly feeling rich warmth run down his spine and through his chest, making the pain subside. He placed the empty vial back into his pocket.

"So he just came up to you, just like that?" Came a woman's voice in the other room, etched with concern.

"I don't know what else to tell you,"

"Don't you think it is terribly _dangerous _to leave a man you only just met in your home? What if he isn't who he says he is?"

"What if he is? You know I'm capable of defending myself, besides, he is in incredibly bad heath – what is he going to do? Hell I had to make him regain consciousness before just so I could give him water, otherwise he would have dehydrated. He was still pretty out of it when I did though," The other voice sighed,

"Right then, how do you think he got the sword?"

"Godric Gryffindor's?"

"The very one."

"I don't know, I haven't asked him!" He yelled in a whisper, "Mum, please, you're being unreasonable, he's going to wake up any second, and you can talk to him then." He heard footsteps and quickly shut his eyes,

"Still passed out," muttered George, his voice close to Harry, he sighed. "He looks sort of familiar,"

"No, he probably just has one of those faces," said Mrs. Weasley dismissively, Harry's eyes threatened to open, but he kept them shut tight. There was a brief pause,

"Anyway, I have to go," said George,

"_Go? _And leave him here?"

"Yes mum, leave him here!" Mrs. Weasley glared at him, "okay, I'll take his sword and wand with me, happy?"

"No."

Harry heard George's disgruntled moan. "What else can I do? Place a binding spell on him?"

"Well maybe."

"That was sarcasm mum!"

"Okay, fine… take his weapons. I guess that'll have to do," she looked at her watch, "I said I'd meet Ginny for lunch," Harry felt his heart pelt up against the sides of his chest. Mrs. Weasley paused, "She worry's about you, you know…"

"She doesn't need to, I'm fine." Harry heard him pull on a jacket.

"No, your not."

"I _am_! What would you know?" There were footsteps towards the doorway.

"I know what it is like to lose most of my family," Mrs. Weasley said softly. There was the sound of a door being opened and then slammed back on its hinges then Mrs. Weasley sighing and leaving the room after him.

Harry remained perfectly still, waiting until the footsteps had completely disappeared and he was left in silence. He placed his hands to his head, pushing them hard against his eyes and trying to clear himself of the thoughts that tormented him.

Standing, he grabbed the couch for balance, his legs and arms ached like an invisible weight pulled on them, his head throbbed and his gut tingled, though he knew it was nothing compared to what he would be feeling without the potion.

Harry walked into the next room, his eyes vaguely glancing around at the furnishings. His eye caught on a picture sitting on top a dark wooden mantle. He moved towards it, feeling a pang in his chest as he realised it was a family portrait of the Weasley family. However, he and Hermione were in it too. The photograph carried and air of loss, the vacant space left from the death of Fred seemed to haunt the image. If Harry recalled correctly the photo was taken soon after the fall of Voldemort. After that moment everything seemed to be going well, until a few weeks later when rouge Death Eaters who managed to avoid jail bound together and began to reek havoc.

Harry sighed at the photograph, his eyes trailed onto George. He was not smiling; instead he looked rather occupied with the roof. George looked strange without a gleeful and cheeky smile plastered on his face. He looked even more strange without his twin Fred next to him. His eyes then moved down to Ginny, her head was slightly tilted to the side, as if thinking – however she wore a forced smile. He gently touched the image of her, as if by doing it he would be able to do it for real.

He took a deep breathe and began surveying the rest of the room again. The place was rather run-down, it appeared as if multiple battles had dispersed within the walls due to random boards being placed on the plaster to cover gaping holes. However, it was clean and somewhat modern.

Harry spotted a wide mirror which had a long crack ridden down the centre on the other side of the room. He looked into it, his vision focusing slowly, he felt his fingers loosen around the picture frame and it dropped to the ground, smashing into a thousand tiny pieces as he looked at his reflection.

* * *

_Thought I'd do a quick upload from the first chapter, get this story rolling - ya know.. _

_Ooh, cliffhanger… kinda but not really. Haha. _

_Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry it's short. _

_Please R & R! I love feedback. _

_Pheonixxsong_


	3. Suspicion

**CHAPTER 3**

**Suspicion**

Harry walked up to the mirror slowly, his hand subconsciously resting on his bandaged chest. He stopped when he was directly in front of it, staring into his own eyes before observing his body with incredible shock.

No wonder George hadn't realised who he was, no wonder Mrs. Weasley had been so cautious around him… he looked nothing like himself.

His ebony hair reached his shoulders, so strewn with mud and dirt that it had turned it a dark brown. His eyes which were originally bright green had dulled and changed becoming more embedded in the skull, while a beard extended down just past his chin, covering most of his mouth and face with dirty knots.

Harry extended one hand disgustedly, pulling away a curtain of hair from his forehead. He had to lean into the mirror to see the lightning-bolt scar that was on his forehead. He traced the scar with a dirty finger, suddenly feeling unclean and menacing – like he was a whole new person altogether and everyone had seen it but him.

He spotted a bathroom at the other side of the room and limped over to it, resting his arm on anything stable to keep himself upright. He opened the dark grey bathroom cabinet and searched for a razor, if he had a wand it could have been done so much faster – but he couldn't wait for that. Finding one he clasped it tight in his hand, stealing a glance from his reflection he placed the tip of the blade to his chin and moved it against the grain of the hair, feeling the dirty mass of beard drop into the small sink.

He cut off more and more, feeling occasional cuts drip hot blood down his cheek from opened scars. He turned around, looking at a small shower which was next to him – Harry pulled off his clothes and turned on the hot water, convinced that if he wanted to be taken seriously and less like a mass-murderer he had to be clean. The more layers he pulled off the more he saw scars and wounds which he hadn't noticed before; his back was covered in dry blood surrounding a scar which ran all the way down the side of his spine to the small of his back, his side was tender – the bruise gasping in pain as the clothe scraped it.

Every muscle in his body ached, he felt fatigued and sore but he couldn't stop, getting clean became addictive, one thing in this messed up world he could control.

He unraveled the bandage to reveal drenched gauze was placed over the open wound. He pulled it off with a wince to view the raw blood-clotted injury underneath. He adjusted the temperature of the water slightly and stepped in, feeling the blistering heat of the water cause instant relief. He grabbed the bar of soap and scrubbed himself down, the hot water piercing his back and running over all the sores and bruises. He had to convince himself the fact that underneath all of this, he was still Harry Potter.

* * *

Harry once again re-dressed, covering the wound with the gauze before wrapping it up in a still-white bandage. Harry looked back up at himself in the mirror, he was of skeletal thinness – he appeared sickly, his ribs clearly visible though his pale skin and his cheek sunken-in, bruises spurted in random places on his body, pale and blue, but now he was convinced he looked more like himself.

He sighed at his reflection; his breathe falling on the glass. His saturated black hair fell into his eyes and he swept it back behind his ears. It had been years since he had seen his reflection, and now, seeing how much he had changed, he found it hard to look away.

Harry left the bathroom, quickly seeing the shattered frame still on the floor, the glass spread out and glinting like water, he glanced around then swore. He needed his wand, he felt powerless without it.

Suddenly Harry heard the door creak open, he stiffened, flattening his back against a wall to make himself feel invisible. He couldn't see past the doorframe, but heard the footsteps stop, somewhere over near the couch,

"James?" The voice said; it was George. Harry let out a sigh of relief and called back. His voice was still different from lack of use, faded and scratchy. George walked into the room and stopped as soon as he got sight of Harry. He looked him up and down, before he could ask Harry answered,

"I felt I needed to clean myself up," he said. George slowly nodded, a frown appearing on his face. He extended a paper bag,

"I thought you might be hungry," he said kindly. Until that very moment Harry had not realised how famished he was. His body had focused so much on the pain of his injuries, it didn't stop to consider the fact he may be starving to death, he took the bag off George.

"Thanks," he said.

"You look so different…"

"Yeah, I know," he said, opening the bag – his gut pulsed with hunger. George noted Harry's expression,

"Sit down," he said, indicating to a small table by the window. Harry nodded in appreciation and walked over to the table, sitting heavily in the chair – he noticed George had taken out his wand and mended the picture frame – he was now staring at it a look of absolute grief plastered on his features.

"Sorry about breaking it," he said, remaining as polite as possible. "I didn't have my wand so I couldn't fix it." George was pulled out of his daze and he looked at him before nodding and swallowing a constriction in his throat. "Is that your family?" He asked like he didn't know the answer, George nodded again, eyes still on the photograph.

"Yeah… yeah it is." He sighed and put it back on his dresser. George pressed on his eyes with his fingers before placing the picture down and taking a seat next to Harry. Harry dug into his meal; the feeling of hot food in his mouth was something he had completely forgotten, it seemed as alien to him as showers and clean water. George watched him, as if trying to put a piece of a puzzle in which didn't quite fit.

"Do you have family?" He asked, Harry paused, not sure how to answer.

"I did." He said, swallowing down the last bites of his meal.

"What happened?" There was no surveillance in his words, he wasn't trying to suss him out, he was merely making conversation.

"They were murdered…"

"Voldemort?" George asked, more in the form of a statement than a question. Harry nodded; he wondered if he was giving too much away – that all of a sudden he will know it was him and his cover would be blown.

"I know people always say 'I know how you feel' but believe me, when it come to that I _do_ know how you feel." George traced a scratch in the table.

"Three brothers," He said before Harry could ask, he sighed, followed by a brief silence, Harry almost didn't hear him, and almost thought he wasn't suppose to when George murmured "plus countless others."

George stood again, as if trying to stop himself of thinking; he gazed down at his watch. "I have to get to work;" he said, Harry raised his eyebrows in question, "I sell battle supplies," he muttered. "I'll be back later this afternoon," He turned to leave the room,

"I'm sorry," Harry said as he reached the doorway, he turned around "about your family I mean…" George nodded,

"Yeah," he said, opening the door. "Me too."

* * *

When George returned home he found the man asleep, it was dark and cold outside, but from the dim light from the hall he could see sweat beading on his face, one hand was off the couch and the other held onto the bandage he had wrapped around him earlier. James was sickly pale, black hair contrasting significantly with his complexion.

George took the man's sword out of his belt, laying it onto the table. Its rubies glistened in the little light, George ran his hand down its shining blade; it was the sword of a God, it was almost perfect, each detail carefully assessed by whoever or whatever constructed it. George suddenly paused, close to the swords handle was something dark brown, he scratched at it before raising it to eye level.

"Blood," he concluded. George frowned at the man curiously. What had he been doing? He usually wasn't this hospitable to strangers… especially strangers who would not tell him any details about their life.

He admitted his mother was getting to him; he was jumping to conclusions and assuming the worst. The blood on his sword could have been anything! Deer blood, Death Eater blood… rabbit blood, but that still didn't quiet down the voice of concern that racked at his brain.

He returned the blade to its sheath and placed it quietly on the table; convincing himself he was overreacting. The man looked trustworthy, though he appeared dark and brooding, his eyes had a kindness George could spot in any stranger.

He made a mental note that he must ask Ginny about the sword… and where he would have gotten it from. Perhaps it was just a really good replica… either way she would know. George was well aware that Ginny was more talented than him at everything to do with Defense Against the Dark Arts. He was a merely an ex-prankster who had been a complete failure at life.

Hell, maybe Ginny could even assess the damage done to the man internally; seeming no Healers had been around since the war, most of their bodies turning up on the streets when they came to the aid of bleeding victims. George remembered being summoned to help with the "clean up" which was a simple and less gruesome way of saying "pick up all the dead bodies so they can get identified."

George ran his thumb and index finger over his forehead, he had to keep moving. He had to keep going forward, because when he stopped the pain hit him at full boar and he was overcome by the same grief he had when he saw his family and friends killed in front of him, their eyes widening in the shear terror of their fate. Unfortunately it makes him question himself… if he had done one thing better, could he have saved them… if he was just that millisecond quicker? Could he have prevented it? What about Fred? Maybe if Fred had stood closer to George's side he would have been safe…

James shifted, a small sigh emitting from his lips, there was something deathly familiar about the man, but he couldn't put his finger on it. The man never talked about his past and as far as George knew, he didn't know anyone named James, or at least no one who was very important to him. The man must have felt his eyes on him because with a small flicker one of his eyes opened,

"I fell asleep again didn't I?" George nodded, slightly amused. "Sorry I'm just exhausted." The man ruffled his hair but then cringed and put his hand over the bandaged wound around his chest, a slight pink peeking through the white as the blood seeped through – George decided not to comment on it. James slowly sat up,

"Don't get up on my account," he said.

"No… I need to." James replied, with a grunt he stood, steadying himself with the couch. His eyes took a second to focus, as if they were rolling back in his head and making everything blurry. George indicated to the sword,

"Where'd you get this?" He asked, the curiosity getting the better of his subtlety. The man's eyes rested on it,

"It was given to me,"

"By whom?" George realised he might have sounded like he was interrogating him, but honestly… he was. He had never seen that sword since years and years ago, and now, seeing it in the hands of a stranger was almost too hard to handle.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"You keep saying that James but you never _do_ tell me so then it is impossible to believe! If you _tell _me then I might have the ability to believe you, but if you don't give me that chance then where are we getting?"

"No where,"

"Exactly."

"I don't see a problem with that…I have my secrets, you have you –,"

"Don't." George warned, "I have told you everything you have asked, yes, I might be a bit sketchy or hidden about a few things but _I'm _not the one who has some stranger sleeping on their couch, using up the medical supplies and taking up my time! It is not me who has to answer questions, it is you." The silence that followed was almost unbearable; it was like George had broken the last ounce of humanity this man had left. The man nodded slowly, his eyes now trailing over the sword.

"Sorry…" George said, hand running through the back of his hair. "I shouldn't have snapped at you."

"No, your right. I'm taking up your time, I'm using your recourses and I haven't given anything in return but my name and a brief history… I'd be suspicious too." His eyes momentarily hit George's, a dull emerald. George sighed and nodded, not really caring about the answer he got anymore.

"We're going to go see my sister." He said, James eyes widen slightly.

"Your sister?"

"Yeah." He said, non-fussed by his reaction. "She's knows quite a bit about healing, she should be able to get you fixed up." James opened his mouth and then shut it again,

"Don't worry," George said, as if James needed reassurance, "she'll help you." He nodded started to walk into the other room trying to leave the man to his thoughts, he paused. "Besides! She's nice…" there was a pause and George shifted his weight slightly, "…ish."

* * *

_I promised myself I would pace myself.. but, yeah, not really working haha. I've written up to about chapter 6, the next chapter will be up soonish! _

_Thankyou so much for the feedback I've gotten so far! Keep it coming. You have no idea how much it means :) _

_Phoenixxsong _


	4. Ginny

**CHAPTER 4**

**Ginny**

George and Harry stood at the doorstep, his foot tapped impatiently against the gravel as Fred knocked.

"I know I told you we would be here a couple of days ago, but … well Ginny is a busy woman." He knocked again,

"It's fine, I understand…" Harry had healed dramatically over the past few days, he was able to stand and walk without the constant feeling of a stabbing pain through his chest. The cut still bled occasionally however, the skin refusing to bond where it was broken. George was chivalrous enough to lend Harry a shirt and jeans, seeming all his other clothes asides from his black jacket were torn apart. George sighed impatiently,

"Come on Gin," he whispered under his breathe, knocking once more. The door swung open, "wow," said George, frowning suspiciously, "Didn't know that actually happened in real life." He stepped through the door; Harry trailed behind him, shutting the door with a quiet snap.

Harry walked into the room anticipation growing in his chest, suddenly he heard George give off a disgusted cringing sound. Harry turned to see Ginny straddling a shirtless man on the couch, hands wrapped around his head and kissing him passionately. George cleared his throat and Ginny looked up, wide-eyed. She snatched the shirt from the floor and handed it to the man,

"Don't you _knock?_" She whispered angrily, as the man with dark brown hair pulled it over his head.

"We did, you just mustn't have heard us through your horizontal folk-dancing." Ginny scowled,

"Us? What do you mean _us?_" George nodded towards Harry and Ginny poked her head above the couch and squinted at Harry.

"Oh, of course. The stranger you took in, mum told me about this. Do you know how dangerous that is?"

"Save it Gin, I've already had that lecture. Besides, he doesn't seem dangerous –,"

"They never do," she whispered. _Standing right here_, Harry thought to himself, he thought George had discussed meeting with Ginny… apparently he did, but Harry was just left out of the equation. Ginny stood and Harry's eyes moved over her, her red hair reached her upper-arm but her eyes were dark and past-ridden. A long faint scar stretched down her shoulder as if a blade had sliced right across it but her face was soft and white, making her hair appear fierier than ever.

Harry saw her move a wand through her long white fingers.

"Do you have a name?" She asked suspiciously, her head cocked to one side.

"James…" Ginny frowned, her eyes meeting his momentarily; he subconsciously pushed his hair down over his scar. Harry's eyes darted to the man who was now standing by the couch,

"Sorry for this Jack," he heard George say, clasping the man by the shoulder. Ginny turned around and grabbed a sword from the table beside her. She whipped it out; it glinted in the light, a dark red handle fitted with gold winked up at Harry. Ginny placed the tip of it an inch from Harry's chest, with one thrust she could have sent it through his heart. Her eyes glinted at him; Harry looked up at George, who protested,

"Gin, he has no weapons, I took them off him, give him a break okay?"

"Well, you better give him weapons pretty fast because I'm in the mood to kill a Death Eater!" Harry's eyes widened,

"I am _not _a Death Eater!" He argued, as Godric Gryffindor's sword was thrown at him, he caught it and removed it from its sheath. Ginny smirked,

"Really?" She pushed the tip of the metal into his neck where blood beaded. He pushed it away, standing feet from her,

"Gin!" Harry heard the man, Jack say, Harry's eyes darted to him, looking over his appearance; he had bright auburn eyes and light brown hair, his arms were toned and muscular, _Auror _Harry thought bitterly. "This isn't fair for him," Jack pointed out, "he's injured! And besides, you haven't lost a duel in years."

"Always a first time," Harry smirked; he twirled the sword in his fingers.

"Someone's getting cocky," muttered Ginny, "I can soon fix that," she pointed the blade directly at his crotch, Harry knocked it away.

"Play on words, I like that." Ginny frowned and lurched forward, Harry blocked her. She smirked as the metal clashed, then stared deep into his eyes as if trying to intimidate him. Without another thought they began to duel, Harry had no intention on hurting her, so he mostly defended himself. George and Jack watching in awe as they quickened; their hands became a blur, the swords a glinting light that they couldn't keep track of.

Harry twitched his sword counter-clockwise as she swung hers in the air and Ginny's sword flew further up than she could catch it. As it began to hum through the air, Harry caught it with his left hand and pointed Gryffindor's sword at her chest. She stared in awe at the swords now both in Harry's hands, and slowly, defensively, took out her wand. Harry immediately sensed George and Jack going to do the same.

"Don't need to do that," he muttered, he lowered his own sword and handed Ginny back hers. Ginny stared at her sword as if it had somehow betrayed her. She looked at Harry and frowned, Harry turned around to see both George and Jack carrying the same expressions, he swallowed.

"You got lucky," he heard Ginny mutter, placing her sword back onto the table.

"Or maybe," George said with a small laugh, "you've just found someone better than you."

"Alright, sure, fine. Well done _James_, you're apparently better at swordsmanship than I gave you credit for." Her voice was full of menace; it was obvious she still didn't trust him. If anything, she appeared even more suspicious of him now that he had beaten her.

"Where are you from?" Ginny asked, he frowned slightly,

"Around," he said carefully, he cursed himself; he needed to get the truth out fast, people's lives were at stake. Ginny's eyes trailed down to the white bandage, now obvious under his t-shirt.

"That's not an answer," she whispered. Harry and Ginny just stared at each other, Ginny had changed, Harry knew this much. She didn't appear to be the optimistic girl she used to be, she had turned into an angry woman haunted by her past, trying to move on and yet failing miserably. Ginny sighed,

"So," she said, eyes opening to rest on George. "Was there a reason you brought a stranger into my house?"

"Now that you have finally asked and stopped attacking your guests with swords, yes, there is a reason." George signaled for Harry to pull up his shirt, Harry clasped his hand around the fabric and pulled up, revealing the white bandage underneath. Ginny frowned and stood, pulling her wand out of her pocket,

"I can't see anything with that on," she muttered absentmindedly, Harry gazed at her, not quite sure what she meant. Without asking permission, she lightly flicked her wand and watched the entire bandage cut in half and fall to the ground.

"Hey!" Said George, coming to a complete stand, "that took –," Ginny raised her hand to silence him.

"George, you asked for my help and now I am giving it to you, don't complain," George rolled his eyes, resigned, before sitting on a chair closer by to watch carefully what she was doing.

Ginny was inches before Harry and he could feel her presence press down on him, she put her wand behind her ear and crouched down on the ground, her hand running over the red wound. Her touch sent shivers up Harry's back, he tried so desperately not to look at her out of fear he might give something away.

"Hm," she said, frowning at Harry's chest as if he were a science experiment. "Deep," she said, gently pushing apart a seal of flesh, "looks like it has been done with something…" she squinted, "sort of blunt, might have been a sharp sword which wasn't so sharp anymore… or something else, I don't know. With a hell of a lot of force behind it,"

"Any recommendations?" George asked, looking at Harry in the same manner. Harry began to feel very self-conscious, he didn't like the feeling of this look, it was untrusting, like he was just an object.

"Say please," Ginny said, turning around. She grinned, both hands still resting on Harry's chest. He felt his blood pump faster around his body, like shockwaves, her dimples deepened.

"Please," George said unenthusiastically. Ginny looked towards Jack,

"Can you get that ointment?" She said,

"Oh wow, technical." George teased. Jack looked at Ginny,

"We have many ointments," he replied,

"The black one… kinda looks like coal and water, I forget what it is called." Jack nodded and left,

"I'll try," he said.

"So, what caused this? Was my guess right?" She asked, it took Harry a while to realize she was talking to him. Her eyes looked deep into him, as if trying figure out a riddle whose ending was completely missing,

"Uh, yeah, basically," Harry said as she raised herself to her feet.

"Doesn't like to give much away does he?" Ginny said, looking towards George who smirked back.

"Just like what I said."

* * *

_Hahaha, "horizontal folk-dancing" – a term once said to me by a friend, brilliant. _

_A bit of a short chapter, I know. _

_Please R and R!_

_Thankyou so much._

_Pheonixxsong _


	5. Suspicion Leads to Action

**CHAPTER 5**

**Suspicion leads to Action**

Jack wandered into the room holding a vial containing dark black liquid as thick as molasses.

"Perfect!" Ginny said with a grin, extending her hand.

"Oh, I know," Jack replied, "it's just in my nature." He passed her the vial, Ginny pulled the cork out and immediately the room smelt of carcass. George covered his nose with his shirt, his face carrying a disgusted look. Ginny gently pushed the ointment over the wound; it warmed on Harry's skin and stung, like someone was sewing him together. She put the vial down,

"It's going to hurt for a while," she said, prodding his chest with her wand, a bandage wrapped around Harry tight. "But, you'll live… just take it off after a couple of days and it should be pretty much fully healed."

"Oh!" George said, wrapping his arms around his little sister. "I owe you," he kissed the top of her head.

"Think nothing of it, family discount." She laughed, the sound was a shock for Harry and for a minute he stood stone cold, trying to savour it. "Anyway," Ginny said, "if either of you come up with anymore injuries let me know, but knock first… _louder_." George nodded with eyebrows raised.

"Oh, believe me, I will."

"James," she said with a curt nod, "We shall duel again some time,"

"Thank you," he said, extending his hand, she clenched her jaw and stared at his hand as if it carried a death sentence. Harry slowly lowered it, now feeling awkward,

"I didn't mean… I just… thanks, you have been a great help." Ginny nodded,

"It's fine." She said. They went to leave, but as soon as George's hand touched the brass door knob she called out again.

"George, take care of yourself okay?" Her tone was so worrisome that George turned around.

"I'll be fine sis," he said, he winked. "Love you,"

"You too."

* * *

"He seemed nice" Jack said, as soon as he heard the door click into place.

"Mmm," Ginny replied, eyes not faltering from the hinge, Jack watched her gaze.

"What's up?" He asked, moving in front of her and trying to force her eyes to his.

"I'm not sure…" she said, looking through Jack as if he were invisible. "There was just something about him, something odd, you know?"

"Well, did you see his bruises? That guy has been through a lot, the fact he can still beat you…" He paused seeing Ginny's eyes completely break from the wall and send a piercing stare.

"Hey! Your mother uses that stare and I don't like it much when she does it to me either, stop alright? He _did _beat you," Ginny sighed, resigned.

"Yeah… he did."

"Doesn't mean you aren't won't get him next time," he said sincerely, kissing her squarely and strongly on the mouth. Ginny smiled and kissed him back, before he broke away and walked into the other room. Ginny grabbed the potion she had just used on Harry and sealed it, she shook it slightly, "We should make more of this stuff," she said looking into the dark black liquid. "Always works a charm."

"Hm?" Said Jack from the other room, Ginny shook her head, whispering an inaudible '_never mind,' _before walking into the kitchen to place it back on the shelf between the _pickled mandrake root_ and the _essence of bat lung_ which was an excellent cure for headache. She felt arms around her waist and she froze under the heat of Jacks touch, his hand ran down her sides.

Ginny was significantly shorter than Jack, his head just fit above hers. Ginny leant against him, lifting her head and kissing him needily. Jack pushed her up against the counter as she undid his belt, everything that happened that day was forgotten, all the stresses of her work became a blur, until all that mattered at that moment was this man holding her, unable to let go.

* * *

George allowed Harry to keep his sword after the duel between him and Ginny; he assumed that George had begun to trust him with his weapon due to how he didn't kill Ginny even though he had the chance.

The sword felt cold beneath his fingertips, familiar, he knew exactly where his hand fit and how hard he would have to swing it to completely knock a foe's sword out of their hand. Fred eyed Harry as he threaded his hand over the rubies,

"You make my sword look amateur," said George with a mild smirk. He withdrew a long steel blade; its handle appeared to be embedded with silver, but nothing to brag about.

"It's not the luxuries," Harry replied, he put his sword back into the sheath. "It's how you use what you've got… what I can tell from your sword is that it is in a need of a sharpen and that it's about two years old… correct?" George frowned,

"Yes…" Harry nodded,

"You sharpen that thing up and I reckon it could cut through three men at once if you swing it hard enough." He shut his mouth as soon as he realised what he had said, he hadn't meant anything by it… but it made him sound like a complete madman.

"Know quite a bit about swords, don't you James?" George asked, Harry nodded, "guess you know that your sword was Godric Gryffindor's then?" Harry looked up at George, by his expression he could tell that he had been holding that question in for a long time.

"Yes, I did." He was getting suspicious again. Harry had completely forgotten about George recognizing the sword. Although he already knew that George was curious about how a man so beaten up with no place of his own would have a sword of such beauty and wealth. But to explain how he came to bear a sword with such status?  
When Harry didn't answer George frowned, he slipped his hand into his pocket and touched a small vial of something he had discovered in Ginny's place, Veritaserum.

"How did you get the sword James?" Harry opened his mouth, "you didn't answer that question when I last asked you."

"Uh…"

"How did you learn those skills?" They had now stopped completely; George faced him, eyes sparking in angry curiosity.

"I just –,"

"Who _are you_?" George spat, "Where do you come from? Why did Voldemort come after your family? Are you going to answer _any _of the questions I'm asking you?" Harry thought profusely, swearing in his head.

"I…" He looked at George, he had never seen him this angry… ever… it was a shock.

"How do you know so much about swords and about fighting that you can _beat _an Auror?"

"Auror?"

"Ginny is, yes." Harry nodded,

"And see! Changing the subject again! Give me one reason why I should trust you." Harry looked up at him; he could honestly not give him any answer. George thought quickly, he had to do this one way or another and James had chosen the hard way. George pulled the sword out from its sheath as quickly as he could and knocked Harry out cold.

"I didn't think so…" he muttered.

Back at the apartment George secured the ropes tight enough so that movement was completely limited before walking in front of his hostages form.  
His head had fallen to the side, his eyes closed as if asleep. George mumbled something and searched around the table, pulling up sheets of old parchment and newspapers in search of something to write on. He found an extremely small coil of paper, reaching for his quill he quickly scrawled a message,

_Ginny,_

_James is a liar__. I'm beginning to think you're right – perhaps he is a Death Eater. I took some Veritaserum from your place and tied him up here but I think this is more your forte. Meet me at my place A.S.A.P_

_George. _

He read it through three times, before he walked over one of his windows which was half-boarded up after multiple breakages. He vaguely remembered flying through the window, feeling the glass dig into him as it cracked.  
George leant out of the window and wolf-whistled; a small owl, twittering at the top of its lungs soon landed squarely on top of the boards, tilting its head and extending a claw.

"Calm down Pig," George said in an urgent whisper as the bird continued to tweet and wriggle around. He secured the paper around its leg, "take that to Ginny." The bird, practically jumping out of its feathers left the window. "That should do it," George muttered, turning around to face Harry.

* * *

Jack's hands were all over her body at once, they had made it to be bedroom… how? Ginny didn't know. His lips trailed the veins in her neck before returning to their rightful place at her lips. Jack flipped her so she was on top, pulling her as close as he possibly could. Ginny straddled Jack and started undoing his shirt, only to be interrupted by a sharp screech and a flutter by her ear, she looked up and saw Pig – as innocent as ever, sitting on the bed head.

"Not now," she mumbled as Jack flipped her again, breathing deep into her and preventing any speech. Pig started jumping along the bed-head, making up an annoying song as he did so. She looked apologetically into Jack's eyes, but he just shook his head,

"Leave it," he mumbled, grabbing her arms and pushing them above her head.

"I think," she said, trying to move her arms, but she was pinned. "I should get the letter, it might be important." Jack sighed and got off her disappointedly.

Ginny sat up on the side of the bed and took the parchment from the leg of the owl. Ginny scanned over briefly before looking at Jack apologetically. "I have to go," she muttered, she scrunched up the letter in her hand, "I'm sorry. Work, it never ends," She pecked him on the mouth; "it shouldn't take long."

"Is it honestly that urgent?" Jack asked after her. But he only heard the sound of Ginny apparating in return.

* * *

Harry awoke with his hands fastened behind his back; Ginny was holding his sword, rocking it gently back and forth, its blade almost touching the ground with every swing.

"Good, you're awake." She said, eyes sparking up from behind her eyelashes. Her voice was menace-filled, it wasn't a welcome… it was a threat.

"What's happening?" Harry said, trying to put his hands apart, he couldn't, the rope was too tight. Harry looked up at George who was sitting on a table, "What's going on?" He asked him, George shook his head very slightly. Harry saw water stains on the shirt he was wearing, "What did you do to me!?" He asked, scared now, the last time he had been tied to a chair it was for torture, and he didn't feel this would be any different.

"Just to get the truth, that's all we want." Said George, a jolt pierced Harry's gut, _the truth? _

"I t –," he began, he couldn't finish, his throat constricted and stopped him, Ginny cut him off.

"You told us lies!" Said Ginny; throwing the sword so it landed just before Harry, piercing the ground with a deafening thump.

"…Veritaserum," Harry muttered, putting two and two together. George nodded,

"Caught on have you?" Ginny added, standing up. "So," she said, her eyes sparkling, "let's begin shall we?"

* * *

_Thankyou so much for the reviews I've gotten thus far. I've loved reading them!_

_Yay for cliff-hangers :) _

_Pheonixxsong _


	6. The Truth

**CHAPTER 6**

**The Truth**

"Let's start with the basics," said George, fiddling with the half-empty bottle of Veritaserum, not even bothering to look at Harry. "Is your name James Hilt?" _Yes, _Harry thought,

"No," Ginny and George exchanged knowing glances,

"Well then, what is your full name?" Harry froze his mouth shut, pulling at the ropes around his wrists.

"Talk," said Ginny, removing the sword from the ground and pointing its tip directly at Harry. "Or we will make you talk." Harry desperately tried to form the word _James. _He thought it as hard as he could, but making it come past his lips… a lie, it was impossible. He took a shuddering breathe,

"Harry," he said softly, his voice hitching.

"Louder!" Ginny ordered. She was looking at Harry in a way that he had never seen Ginny's face look, full of anguish, despair and hatred. At that moment all he wanted to do was hold her, tell it that it was all okay and that she didn't have to be this person she had to become.

"Harry," he said louder, taking a deep breathe. "Harry James Potter."

The silence that came after these words was unbearable, he watched their faces. Ginny looked at George to see if he had heard it too,

"George you stuffed up the potion." She said with a small voice, George opened his mouth then shut it again, "how can you stuff up giving someone Veritaserum? Honestly."

"Gin, I didn't stuff it up." George said,

"You did," she replied, "you did, you have to had! Harry is _dead_," she walked over to George and snatched the bottle off him; with a shaking hand she tipped several drops into a glass. Ginny walked up to Harry and tipped it into his mouth, spilling half the contents over his face and shirt in the meantime. He coughed for a moment, having inhaled some of it.

"Your name!" She said, "and don't you _dare _play games with me."

"My name," he said, when he could talk again, "is Harry James Potter." Harry watched the glass from Ginny's hand fall to the wooden floor before shattering. She shook her head, completely unaware at the mess at her feet.

"No," she said, shaking her head violently, a tear slid down her cheek. "No, your not." George had walked up to Harry, with a non-believing frown etched across his face, "don't believe it George. It's those God damned Death Eaters! They are trying to mess with us again. Don't believe it."

"When is your birthday?" George asked, urgency surged off his words.

"July 31st," Harry said. The truth was just a word now, they were going to find out anyway, George looked up at Ginny,

"Same birthday as Harry's…"

Ginny began pacing back and forth, "this is ridiculous… you and I both know that there are limitations to Veritaserum, if someone has extremely high skills in Occlumency for example, they can prevent its effects."

"Save that Auror crap Ginny!" George said, "We've practically overdosed him on this stuff, I'm sure no level of Occlumency can –,"

"Who do you work for?" Ginny said; picking up his sword and aiming it at Harry, George snatched it off her.

"Don't be ridiculous!" He warned angrily, putting it back onto the table and flashing Ginny with a fierce glare.

"No one," Harry said, answering Ginny's question.

George walked directly in front of Harry, he tried to pull away but the chair was too constricting. George was so close that Harry couldn't even make him out without his glasses – although his eyes had learned to live without them he still missed the clarity of vision. George's hand gently pulled away the curtain of hair covering his forehead, Harry saw George's eyebrows furrow.

"It's faded," Harry said so only George could hear, George slowly nodded his eyes turning glassy. With a finger he traced the lightning bolt scar on his forehead. George took a sharp intake of breathe before he moved around the back of the chair, unfastening the knots with shaking hands.

"George," Ginny said, "_George! _What are you doing? He is dangerous, a clone, a Death Eater impersonating him. He isn't Harry Potter, he can't be."

"I am," Harry said, the first confident words he had said while being tied to the chair.

"_How?_" Harry heard behind him, his hands came free. Harry brought them in front of him and massaged his wrists, the red marks created by the rope slowly disappeared.

"I'm not dead, neither is Ron or Hermione."

"I saw them all killed in front of me," Ginny said in a whisper, as if she was reliving it in her minds eye.

"Sometimes things aren't always as they seem Gin,"

"Don't call me that!" she yelled as George continued with the ropes. Ginny had begun pacing back and forth in front of him, Harry noticed that her cheeks were lined with desperate tears. It was as if he had opened old wounds she had only just managed to heal.

"We didn't die, we were taken. They wanted it to seem like we were killed so that you wouldn't come look for us."

"Well then if you didn't die, where are they?" Ginny asked, her voice showing parts of the young girl Harry once knew. George finished with the ropes but Harry remained sitting. George came around the front of the chair and stood by his sister's side, happy to wait for the absolute truth.

"Where are they?" Ginny repeated, Harry gazed steadily at the ground, he knew that if he said the truth it would be impossible to believe. "_Where are they_?"

"Vereor nex," he whispered, searching Ginny's face.

"Where?"

"Vereor nex!" He said louder,

"Vereor nex? Please," she snorted "you can't expect me to believe my brother is stuck in a mythical land!"

"A mythical land Gin? A _mythical land?_ Why don't you make it sound more easy! Do you think it's full of Pygmy Puffs or something?" He questioned her, "it's hell Ginny, and I don't mean that in a rhetorical sense! And Ron and Hermione are stuck there!" He felt a pang run into his heart and he stopped talking. He had been carrying around the cold weight of guilt for too long, knowing that they were out there, just waiting for him to return. He stared into her eyes; she frowned ever so slightly.

Ginny walked up to, then knelt in front of him – her face inches from his, her eyes searching his face. Harry felt her presence so close to him, he longed to just reach out and touch her. Ginny pushed away her tears and ran her hand down his jaw line. Suddenly, she took an intake of breathe.

"It's you… you're not lying." She whispered, Harry shook his head, clenching his teeth. Ginny opened her mouth then shut it again. Suddenly she put her arms around him; Harry closed her eyes and reciprocated, burying his head in her shoulder.

"You're not dead, I should have known… I should have kept looking," Ginny muttered, still holding onto him. Harry smiled into her shoulder; he felt like his seventeen-year-old self again. It was almost as if his scars, in that single embrace had faded and disappeared. George and Ginny actually believed him, and they were going to find his friends again, that's all he could have ever hoped for.

"Why did you lie to us?" George asked in a confused tone rather than angry,

"I didn't think you'd believe me," Harry muttered as Ginny let go. As soon as she did he missed her embrace.

"You should have tried." George said,

"I know," he muttered, feeling stupid, "I'm sorry." There was a brief silence in which both George and Ginny just stared at him, their expressions covered with so many emotions it was impossible to tell how they were feeling.

"So," Ginny said after a minute. "Where is this place?"

* * *

Ginny walked back into her room, accidentally slamming the door back on its hinges and waking Jack, who sat up as if he had been branded with a cattle prod.

"Oh my God, Ginny!" He said, jumping out of bed and looking at the clock. "Where have you been?" He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her head. "What the hell were you doing?"

"Harry is alive," she said so softly that even she couldn't hear it… she wondered if she had said it at all.

"What?" Jack said, pulling her out to arms length, he stared at her slightly confused expression. Ginny noticed he was still shirtless and she felt a pang of guilt to think that he had been waiting for her all night. She hesitated for a moment as his dark brown eyes dug into hers.

"Nothing," she said with a small shake of her head, "nothing at all." Jack was clearly unsatisfied with the answer but he nodded regardless. "Blimey," he said with a hint of anger, "Owl me next time will you?" Ginny nodded,

"I'm sorry." She said sincerely.

"What the hell did whoever that was want you for at this time?"

Ginny frowned, shaking her head slightly, "you should know," she said; "I'm going on a trip."

* * *

George sat in front of Harry staring at him like a piece of artwork, a smile etched into his face. Harry rubbed his eyes, trying to remain awake.

"Why didn't I see it before?" He said, looking Harry over, "I should have, I knew you looked familiar, I mean… you look different, but… overall!" He grinned, "You're Harry Potter!" Harry nodded slowly, a smile slowly playing on his lips.

"You know George; you are sort of freaking me out." He said, but the grin stayed on George's face.

"And you tell me, Ron and Hermione are alive?" He added, Harry nodded, although silently he wondered. When he left, and the Death Eaters took Ron and Hermione, surely they would've paid a punishment for his departure. The very thought of them dying made Harry sick to his stomach with grief, he swallowed.

* * *

"Hermione and Ron are _alive_?" Asked Jack, a small smile pressed on his lips, like he didn't know whether or not to be smiling.

"Yes," said Ginny, grinning.

"And they are at …where?" the smile disappeared from Ginny's face; she cradled her hands in her lap.

"Vereor nex…"

"Vereor nex?" Jack asked, sharing exactly the same reaction as Ginny had herself. "The mythical place?"

"Not so much a myth apparently." Ginny said, she was sitting on the edge of the bed.

"And you are going with who?"

"George," she faltered, "James,"

"The man you helped?" he asked, Ginny shifted uncomfortably.

"Yes…"

"And… he was the one who told you about Vereor nex not being a myth?"

"Yes,"

"And you believe him?" He raised his eyebrows at her; she paused for a second and the nodded,

"Yes."

"Ginny, pardon me fore saying so, but I recall you saying when you first met him that he was a Death Eater and now you are going on a ridiculously long hike with two other people… one of them being this person you thought was a bad guy?"

"Well… if you put it that way you make me sound insane."

"Well, you do sound insane. You don't even know if you can trust this guy and you are taking three people to, what? Go get your brother and Hermione back? Do you think its going to be easy? If this place isn't a myth, then I would imagine that they would have ridiculous numbers of guards. They will catch you, they will kill you."

"On that positive note…"

"Ginny, this isn't a game. You have to think about this seriously,"

"I _am _thinking about this seriously! Jack, I love you, but you don't understand, this is a chance to see these people again, to save them!"

"I thought you said you saw them die in front of you?" Ginny didn't respond, "Well… then we should organize a group of Auror's to come with you!" He said, starting to pace,

"The less people we have the less chance we have of being noticed," Ginny stated.

"But the less people you have the less you have to defend yourselves," Jack argued. "We can't just take hostages and run, we have to close it off for good, so this never happens again."

"Sounds like we have another war on our hands," Ginny mumbled, lying down on the bed, arms above her head.

"Sure does." Jack replied with a heaved sigh.

* * *

_Thankyou so much for all the reviews so far :) _

_I gave you __a few answers in this chapter. I hope they were satisfying! Let me know what you thought. _

_I kept editing and editing this chapter - I couldn't seem to get it... right, you know? Haha, so this was like the 50th edit. _

_I know my chapters are short… so I'll give you an option. If I make the chapters longer, the updates will take__ a few days more than they have been, if I keep them short I'll update as much as I have been. Let me know which one you prefer, because I'm happy to do either way. _

_Pheonixxsong_


	7. The Ministry

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

**The Ministry**

Harry tapped his wand on his knee and stared at the piece of paper in front of him,

"So… this is Vereor nex?" Muttered George "seems kinda small."

"This is the only part I saw," Harry replied, "also I'm not the best drawer," he looked up at George as he surveyed the simple sketch. He noticed his ear that had been cursed off by Snape had completely healed over now, becoming the same colour as the rest of his face.

Harry prodded one section with his wand, "this was where Ron, Hermione and I were… the Death Eaters referred to it as the 'torture room' this is the general place where people come in for serious crimes… when a Death Eater betrays their clan, when they catch an enemy, that sort of thing. However," he said, "the people in that room in their separate cells are the ones who are tortured most often, so they don't have to bring them through doors and things and can do it on a regular basis." He noticed George's eyes on him, he sighed deeply, subconsciously rubbing his stump of a finger. Screams echoed within his head, and the blood, the blood that always flowed across the dark concrete floor. The mental imagery brought back a memory, and he closed his eyes for a moment to remember it.

_Harry's back leant against the cold cinderblock of the cell; blood was dripping down his sleeve and onto the ground, where it stained the dust. He shut his eyes and forced his mind to focus on something else than the pain, a rich sobbing came in between the bars, his ears pricked__ up and he carefully moved towards the entrance of the cell, where tall iron bars swung to the ceiling. He placed his hands on them and pushed his forehead as hard as he could into a space between two of them, _

"_Hermione?" He whispered his voice hitching and pain running down his scalp. "Hermione, is that you?" There was a shuddering breath heard, but no answer. _

"_Harry," came Ron's voice, further away, it was hollow and deep, "where'd they get you this time? I saw blood." _

"_There is always blood," Harry whispered to himself. "Its fine, I think they just got my shoulder," _

"_Can you move your arm?" He asked, Harry moved his elbow, creasing pain up his bones. He winced,_

"_Yeah," _

"_What'd they use?" Ron asked, he heard him shift in his cell and the sound of a hand running against the cold grain of the bars._

"_The snake." Harry muttered, seeing the glittering silver instrument in his minds-eye, the eye imbedded with peridot and the tail wrapping around the blade._

"_Figures."_

"_What did they use on you?"_

"_Nothing special, the bastard did the back of my ankle though,"_

"_Can you stand?" _

"_I haven't tried, it hurts enough to sit." There was a soft silence. They had this conversation almost everyday; comparing injuries was one thing that reminded them they weren't alone in their pain. _

"_Do they keep asking you too?" Harry heard Hermione ask in a small voice. _

"_What 'Mione?" Asked Ron, his voice was full of care._

"_Do they keep asking you how to bring Voldemort back?" _

_Suddenly the door creaked open, Harry heard Hermione give a stiff sob before she fell completely silent. _

"_Is it just me," said a rough voice from the door, "or did I hear voices?" Harry huddled back in his cell and he prayed Ron was doing the same. There was the sound of a brandishing of a sword; Harry shut his eyes as he heard Ron become gagged and tied, before being dragged to the table in the centre of the room. Harry couldn't stand it, Ron made a muffled cry as he gasped to breathe. _

"_No!" Harry yelled, his voice cracked as he pushed his hands through the bars and tried to reach for him. The Death Eater peered up and sneered, as Ron looked at Harry, his eyes widened as the man made a cut into his flesh. Slowly, tears ran down his dusty face, leaving a trail of dark mud. Harry pulled at the iron bars, trying to reach for Ron, but it was no use; Ron started sobbing as the blood slowly fell. _

George was staring at him when he broke from the daze. Harry cleared his throat and pointed at the drawing once more, shaking away his memories.

"Here," he said, trying to make sure his voice didn't waver, "is the large hallway the three of us were taken," Harry traced a path with the tip of his wand, "if I remember correctly that was how we got into our cells…"

"Where did you escape from?" George asked curiously, glancing down at the drawing. Harry pointed to the edge of his cell, the part that ran off the side of the paper.

"But, there is nothing there,"

"Not completely true," he muttered, "there is a window."

"You…"

"_We _jumped… yeah," he said. He gave a morbid laugh when he saw George's amazed expression, "you would be amazed what you would do in times of desperation." Harry saw in his minds eye Hermione clinging to a tree with all her remaining strength as Death Eaters tore at her. Her eyes imploring Harry to help her…

There was a light tapping at the door and Harry looked at George to see if he was expecting a visitor, but George shared the same confused expression as he did. George pulled himself off the couch and headed for the door, Harry quickly went to grab the drawing from the table until he heard George say in a slightly amused and relieved voice,

"It's Ginny… should have figured she would come by."

"I took a sick day," said Ginny, coming through the door and pushing past George; her eyes immediately fell on Harry. "I haven't missed a day before so it was about time anyway."

"Well well," he said with an amused expression, "someone's and Auror. Can't say I expected any less of you." Ginny hid all expression from him, as if it was her job not to smile.

"What are you looking at?"

"Vereor nex…" Answered George, taking the seat next to Harry again, nonplussed by Ginny's ignorance of them. Ginny took a seat on the other side of Harry and looked at the picture. He felt her presence leaning in on him, the warmth from her body falling against his side, he sighed.

"This is it?"

"What I saw yes,"

"I seriously doubt it, the place would have to be massive, if it's anything like the myths say…"

"I guess they just forgot to give me the tour of the place." Harry muttered sarcastically, Ginny ignored him. Harry was starting to get confused; why was she being so hostile towards him?

"We should alert the Auror's." Muttered George, "do you think you could do that?"

"It's going to be tough…" said Ginny, "with the new laws in the Ministry it'll be difficult to convince them."

"What? That your ex-boyfriend and boy-who-lived magically returned from the dead with news that a mythical place actually isn't mythical at all? Who _wouldn't_ believe that?!" George said, a twinge of a smile on his face, Harry snorted.

"So, any suggestions on how I'll go about it?"

"I'm surprised you aren't going all hero _we can do this alone _crap," George muttered. Ginny raised her eyebrows and shook her head,

"What about the Order?" Asked Harry, he pulled his sword up from the table and casually leant the tip against the floor. Ginny shot George a look, but Harry couldn't see her eyes,

"Harry, the Order practically doesn't exist anymore…" Said George, his tone as soft as velvet.

"What do you mean 'doesn't exist'?" When Harry left, even after Voldemort's downfall – the Order still existed on principle. They were like the law outside the ministry, restoring order from chaos.

"It's not like the Order is dead Harry… more like on holiday, waiting to be captured by the next generation. You know how after Voldemort's downfall there was an almost unspoken agreement that it wasn't needed anymore. But then, when the Death Eater's attacked…"

"So you two aren't…"

"Yes, of course we're part of the Order," said Ginny, flicking her hair off her shoulders. "But you can't really start an organization with only a couple of members who can fight. Those who were in the Order when you were in it – either can't fight, or won't fight."

"_Won't _fight? Who won't fight?" No one answered. "How about your parents? Surely they wouldn't let this happen."

"Mum and dad gave up fighting ages ago, though they're still good with a wand they don't have the same battle skills as they used to, and wouldn't survive something like this…" said Ginny, "Dad is trying to use a bit less magic too, he's gotten more seriously into Muggle gear, actually owns a real car now… and not the flying kind."

Harry frowned, a line of light coming from the broken window and across his face as George asked "how soon can we get to the Ministry?"

"Woah, wait!" Said Ginny, "who said _we?"_ George smirked, messing up her hair with his hand.

"There's the little _let's do this alone _idiot I know so well." Ginny glared at him, before turning to Harry,

"Harry, you don't understand the security that's been enforced there at the moment? You haven't been around, you do –,"

"Yeah, and you don't understand what went on where I was either… you weren't there! Do you think that didn't have security? And yet, here I am. I know how to get through all of that, I know."

"No! You don't!" Ginny said standing, George slowly backed up in his chair, their voices becoming louder.

"I've done it before!" Yelled Harry, "you should know what I'm capable of!" Ginny pulled out her sword and jabbed it into Harry's bandaged chest, the pressure made Harry winced.

"No, I remember what you _were _capable of. Now you are in no shape!"

"I'm perfectly fine!"

"Oh yeah, sure." She muttered sarcastically.

"Maybe you are forgetting who beat you in a duel Ginny." Ginny clenched her teeth,

"I can't use you in there!" She yelled, "not today. You can't just use a Polyjuice like you did last time and make it through, things have changed."

"Yeah, apparently," Harry muttered, looking Ginny up and down. Ginny's eyes sparked with anger,

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"You've become all negative, constantly paranoid – not letting anyone through that god damn wall you've put up around yourself –"

"I've _changed _so what? I had to!" Ginny yelled. Harry felt something shove him in his chest and he fell backwards, George stood in the centre, looking positively mad,

"We're not going to get anywhere with you two ripping at each others throats… _alright?_" Ginny stood up, brushing dust from her pants. She pressed her hand through her hair,

"Sorry," She said, the anger leaving her features.

"Me too," said Harry, frowning. He felt horrible for yelling at Ginny, after all she was just trying to help. He just couldn't help but be mildly disappointed in her… had somewhat expected her to look into his eyes the first time she saw him and just know it was him. For her to be the girl he left, the girl that he dreamed about day in and day out at Vereor Nex. He felt egotistical and ridiculous for feeling disappointed, but he did.

"Man I always thought I'd have to get you two off each other, but not in this way," George joked, sitting back down. "Ginny, I heard they have magical detector spells, of any form yes?"

"Everything you could imagine," She said, "even if someone has had a cheering charm placed on them they'd know."

"How about things that _aren't _magical?" George asked,

"Depends, if you are referring to clothing and everything, no… if it isn't harmful they don't request –,"

"How about electronic equipment?"

"What… muggle gear?"

"Yes."

"…people generally don't bring that to work…"

"But, if they did?"

"It'd go through I'd say, unless it was potentially harmful."

"What are you getting at?" Asked Harry, confused by the whole situation, his mind kept flashing back to Ron's blood staining the ground. George flashed a smile,

"That's for me to know, and you to find out."

* * *

"Dad gave me one of these for Christmas one year," said George, gazing into the small camera – a projection of himself plastered on the screen.

"Do I dare ask why?" Questioned Ginny as George clipped it onto her shirt, a grin spreading across his face.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Muttered Harry slightly annoyed at the whole scenario; that he would have to be sitting on the sidelines.

"No actually, risky as all hell." George finished and stood back to admire the discretion of the camera.

"Run this through with me again?" Ginny asked again, glancing down at the camera with an unsure expression.

"Basically, you point out you've got an anonymous tip about Voldemort's recruits, up somewhere in the mountains. You won that _award of bravery in capture _last year; surely no one will question the validity of your statements… but if they do say you have a witness etcetera… you know, all that."

"Yeah…" sighed Ginny, running her palms down her legs "all _that_." Ginny touched the camera with her fingers,

"This better bloody work and I better not get fired." She said, eyes darting warningly around George's face.

"It'll work." Ginny let out a heaved sigh,

"Alright." She secured her sword onto her belt and held out her wand.

"Good luck," Harry said, she gave him a slight smile and disapparated.

* * *

Harry and George sat in front of the screen, as the static turned into a clear picture of marble floors and wide roofs. People walked hurriedly left and right, brief cases clutches firmly with their hands.

Ginny sighed and looked around, the new fountain of two phoenixes joint at the necks shot water through their beaks and into the pool below. Ginny walked casually across the room, no one paid any particular notice.

"So far so good," whispered Harry to George. They continued watching the screen,

"Do we get sound on this?" Whispered Harry, fiddling with the volume, a loud screeching echoed throughout the room. Harry quickly turned it down, trying to get it clearer.

"Hopefully we only heard that on _our _end," whispered George. Ginny casually wedged herself between two grim-looking workers, talking in hushed tones. She swiftly moved to the gold gates where several security guards stood, their bodies appeared to be both as wide as they were tall. One nodded at her, his bald head gleaming with the strong lights,

"Ginny," he muttered in welcome. Casually letting her through, she thanked them, a smile playing on her lips. Almost immediately a man walked up to her, his white hair parted and swung down his cheeks.

"Ginny, I thought you took the day off today?"

"Hardly Neil, you know me, can't stay away from the office." She laughed meekly and the man beamed,

"Always good to have a dedicated employee," he nodded at her and walked away. Ginny shoved through the crowd, a number of people saw her coming and stepped back, their eyes darting to her sword. She walked into a small hallway, elevators lined on the walls, witches and wizards crowded around them, jostling to get a spot. Ginny slipped into a gap of two wizards and walked onto the lift, several others joined her. Multiple memos flew at her they circled around her prodding her with their tips. She snatched one of the air, Harry read,

_Ginny, meeting at 2 o'clock, discussion of the O'lachlan case. _

She took the other memos and pushed them deep into her pockets. A muffled voice was heard coming from the elevator,

"Level Seven, Department of Magical Games and Sports, incorporating the British and Irish Quidditch League Headquaters, Official Gobstones Club and Ludicrous Patents Office." A couple of people exited the lift, before it began ascending again. A man shuffled over to Ginny, holding a cage with a dancing parrot, its eyes sparked wildly around the cage as its legs moved.

"Miss… Weasley,"

"Morning," she said with a slight nod that suggested he should stop talking to her. The man didn't listen and pointed to the bird,

"My, parrot you see. It's been doing this all morning, a couple of kids thought it might be funny to –," Ginny sighed impatiently and swished her wand, and with that the parrot stood perfectly still, the man's eyes widened.

"How'd you…" the man began as the doors opened.

"Simple jinx." Ginny muttered as the man got off the lift, thanking her profusely. She was now alone in the lift; she looked down at the tiny camera,

"So far so good," she muttered to George and Harry.

"Lets hope it remains that way," replied George.

* * *

_Not the most interesting chapter. But hold out, after a few chapters everything starts to get a little more heated. _

_Let me know what you thought :)_

_Hah, and I find it funny how people hate Jack so much. I mean, it's cool, I get it, but it's amusing. _

_Pheonixxsong _


	8. Going Behind Closed Doors

**CHAPTER 8**

**Going behind closed Doors**

Ginny tapped her foot impatiently, the back of her neck prickled with anticipation as she tried to ignore the weight that seemed to pull down on her shirt, despite the camera being so small. This was the _Ministry of Magic_; to bring surveillance gear in was a serious offence, especially in her line of work. Why had George made her do this? Why did she _agree? _Ginny sighed, rubbing the back of her neck as the smooth voice came over the speaker,

"Level Three, Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, including the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad, Obliviator Head-quarters and Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee." Ginny leant back against the back wall, crossing her arms against her chest as a number of people left the elevator; one appeared to have scorch marks up the left side of his face, but she paid no real notice. A woman walked on, her eyes glancing through her spectacles towards files she was intently reading,

"Hello Miss. Weasley," she said without even a glance up. Her dark hair was tied into a knot at the back of her head, so sharply that it appeared as if you could shatter it if you tried.

"Afternoon," she said, pushing herself up from the wall as the elevator gave a steady lurch upward. A memo flew low near her; she casually grabbed it and shoved it into her back pocket. The woman flipped backwards and forward through a few pages of what she was reading, her red lips pursing as if she were annoyed before giving up altogether and folding it in half.

"Manage to catch that man the other day I heard." She said to Ginny, her lips forming in what she was sure was meant to be a convincing smile. Ginny frowned in a moments thought,

"Oh, yes," she said, "Lester. Sent off to Azkaban today." The woman nodded,

"Lovely."

The voice came over the speakers once more as the doors opened revealing the Auror Offices, posters and wanted photographs plastered every wall as Ginny walked down the hallway as normally as she could muster, her hand every now and then grazing past the camera.

Ginny had a newly appointed secretary, Jo, with long curled hair and a round face. She walked past her, and ignored her eyes as they widened to see her boss.

"Jo, hi, I saw a great Healer and he managed to clear me up for the day." Ginny leant her hands down onto the desk, she loved making the new secretaries squirm. "Can you please tell whoever was originally covering my 2 o'clock to keep it that way? Because those O'lachlan's are convicted and everyone knows it, even the O'lachlan's, surely they'll plead guilty and it'll just be wasted hours of my day. Schedule a meeting there instead for any and all Auror's, I have an anonymous tip. Also, tell everyone to drop the Lester case, it's over, he's gone, no need to be so uptight about it."

With that, Ginny walked into the office, with Jo scribbling down notes crazily. Her office wasn't very large or clean, papers were scattered over the table, and photos of people wanted were pasted against the wall, their beady eyes shining from the black and white portraits and newspaper cut-outs. Ginny unclipped the camera and pointed it at herself,

"You're bloody lucky no one noticed." She whispered in a hushed undertone, whether to herself or them she wasn't sure. She sighed and reapplied it, Ginny heard a voice behind her and jumped, she turned quickly to see Jo standing there.

"Don't _sneak up _on me like that!" She said, pretending to clutch her heart, but in reality her palm was clasping over the device.

"When would you like it arranged?" She questioned, it took Ginny a second to work out what she was talking about. Ginny absentmindedly rubbed her temples,

"An hour, conference room," she muttered, gesturing for the young woman's departure. Ginny sighed in relief as soon as she left, her hand now secured on her sword, the cold metal soothing her clammy hands.

Ginny sat heavily in her chair, her eyes caught on two photographs on top of a filing cabinet, one was of Jack and her, Jack's eyes were dancing on Ginny's face as they swayed against the non-existent wind, a smirk spread across his face. The other one was the one Ginny had to turn around every now and again as she passed – only because it cut a fresh wound again when she saw it.

In the photo she was surrounded by her brothers, all of them clung onto her. Fred and George were messing her hair up as the others tackled her, their eyes shone with happiness and the unknowingness of their fate. They had no other question than what was happening at that time, and that dug deep into her like a sword through the chest. Remembering what it was like, remembering what it _could _have been like, if only Voldemort wasn't in their lives. She knew that grief was a curious thing, when it happened unexpectedly it was as if someone had ripped away a bandaid, but it took with it the top layer of the family, and of a person. Harry was right when he said she was paranoid… she knew she had changed for the worse. But it was how she coped with their deaths, and she just couldn't see herself becoming the old Ginny ever again.

Ginny saw the image on the wall closest to her, of the Death Eater she just captured… Lester. He had a wife and three children, all whom loved him dearly – but he was taken over by an unforgivable and had been taunting the headquarters' of the Ministry, only he managed to escape every time.

Ginny had stopped him; she piked his coat on the ground, where he fell flat on his back, immediately she sent a stunning spell in its wake. When she came over to his side his dark brown eyes were blinking slowly, she froze him and removed the sword, replacing it into its sheath. She didn't want the man to go to jail, she wanted the person who _did this _to the man to go to jail, but unfortunately she was ruled against and he was being sent to Azkaban.

Ginny ripped the picture down and shoved it into a draw filled with captured criminals. She pushed her palms hard against her eyes, seeing bright red, just as a knocking was heard.

"Hey," said a familiar voice, she glanced up. Jack walked into the office, holding a slip of paper, "just got the memo. I thought you weren't feeling well?" His eyebrows arched in curiosity.

"Felt this was more important," she said, Jack nodded, a strand of hair falling in front of his eyes, he pushed it away.

"Actually going with my advice huh?"

"Hey, don't make it sound like that's a once-in-a-blue-moon thing!"

"I don't know how you're going to pull it off though," Ginny stood,

"I'll figure out a way."

"How about convincing the Minister?" Ginny paused and bit her lip, she hadn't considered that. "Are you even going to _tell _the Minister?"

"I'll tell her when I need to... I think I've earned her trust…" she muttered.

"I wouldn't be so sure," he said, walking around the table so they were face to face. "I'll help you but there is only so much I can do." Ginny smiled slightly in thanks, Jack pushed his hand through his hair,

"Hear about the Dark Mark's appearance?" He asked absentmindedly, "apparently memos were flying around about it." Ginny stuck her hand in her pockets, feeling the memos underneath her fingertips.

"Yet to read them," she said. "Any truth in it?" Jack shrugged,

"Apparently, reports to the Muggle police about _weird looking shapes in the sky_, I spoke to Muggle-Worthy excuse Committee and they suggested either say it was a weird kind of Northern Lights, fireworks, or there will have to be some severe memory modification. Eric and Katherine have gone to check out the scene. You were meant to go but they thought you had the day off." Ginny wiped the fingerprints off the hilt of the sword, it glowed from the light, she so desperately was in need of a battle to get her mind off things.

"Anyway," said Jack, pressing his lips on hers, "I have to go, lots of paperwork. I'll see you in the conference room." Ginny sighed to herself as he left, sifting through the paper in her pockets to find if there was anything else of importance.

She heard a buzzing, she glanced around the room to find the source of the noise… surely no bugs would be able to get into the Ministry… the buzzing got louder and higher-pitch, through her right ear… she pushed it against her shoulder but the sound wouldn't diminish. Until then she had momentarily forgotten about the camera, about what she was doing and the whole point of her being there, but as the buzzing turned to crackling and slowly the voices emerged from behind it, it was a severe snap-back into reality.

"_Ginny? Ginny?" _Said the voice of George, she relaxed,

"Hey," she whispered, standing to shut her office door.

"_You seem to be doing okay, just relax and act normally." _Normally? What was her normal anyway? _"Your workers seem to believe you, so that's good, just avoid questions and stick to the point." _There was a pause and Ginny almost wondered if George had decided to end the conversation before he started again,

"_Harry practically passed out before, I think he might have some severe internal, not just external injuries… bruising and everything." _The question 'is he alright?' Burned the base of her throat, she swallowed as the other end went dead silent.

"Okay," she replied, not knowing what else to say. Ginny remembered, six months after Harry's death she had stumbled across a Death Eater, one who took part in the apparent murder of Harry, Ron and Hermione. She had laughed as Ginny slashed into her – creating no relief as the blood dripped onto the ground. There was a thud as the body fell at her feet, a reminder that in acting on revenge she was just as bad as the one that helped murdered them.

George had found her two hours later, her hands stained in dry blood, her sword still dirty from the fight. He took one look at her face and the shocked expression had altered to an understanding,

"Ginny, come on," he urged quietly, arm outstretched.

"I'm a killer," she whispered, her eyes running down the dead body by her side.

"Your not." George had said firmly,

"I am… look at me, she didn't even _start_ this fight… she wasn't even looking for a fight and I – I killed her,"

George faltered as if considering what she had said "I would have done the same thing in an instant." He muttered, his eyes on hers. Slowly, Ginny wiped her sword on her jacket, staining it with blood, before taking his arm.

* * *

Ginny stood inside the conference room, remaining in her usual appearance, as if nothing bothered her – eyes stern and direct, sword glinting in its hilt, wand deep in her pocket, she kept this to suppress any fear from the Auror's that she was insane in what she was about to say. The room was filled with men and women, most covered with scars and cuts, carrying the same expression as those surrounding them, of curiosity and determination. Jack stood to the very right of her, leaning against the window with a fake interpretation of what was outside.

"_Looks good Gin, address them." _Came George's voice in her ear,

"I guess you're all wondering why we came here today," there was a small snort in her ear,

"_Classic." _She ignored it.

"I am Ginny Weasley, I would state my credentials but I see that as a waste of time. Anyone who questions my authority feel free to leave." She paused, a few people shifted in their seats but no one moved. "Who here has heard of Vereor nex?"

"Myth developed during Voldemort's first reign by the Death Eaters to reinforce fear and power." Said a young man near the back of the room as he leant back in his chair,

"Right you are, and that's what I thought originally too. But it's not mythical." There was a murmur of disagreement. "A man showed up a week ago at my house, horribly beaten and clearly tortured. I used Veritaserum to make sure and he recounts that Vereor Nex is indeed real." She said, stalking the front of the room,

"But, Veritaserum has its drawbacks, even with a truth potion its possible – if you have a high level of Occlum –,"

"I am well aware of the possible weaknesses of Veritaserum thankyou Sampson, and of course I've taken the right protocol to make sure that this is not the case." Suddenly, Ginny heard a muffled thump in her ear; she turned to see the source of the noise, there was nothing.

"_What the?" _She heard George say as there was a massive crash, like a door being thrown back at full-force against its hinges, a yell and a thud. Ginny's eyes widened and she stayed as still as a rabbit caught in a headlight. She focused completely on what was happening to George and Harry, managing to block out all other sounds in the room.

"_That's him, we've got him." _A man's gravelly voice stated with an air of triumph. Ginny felt panic rise up against her throat, she felt the eyes of the Auror's on her back as she ran from the room. Every instinct was screaming for her to run from the building, apparate over and help them. Just before she was about to bolt she felt a firm hand on her arm, she turned around. Jack closed the door behind him,

"They've got them!" She stammered, her voice hitching "they… _they_ _have them_." A hot tear slid toxic down her cheek. Jack shook his head and pushed the tear away,

"Got who?"

"George and… and _James_ they… a spell, I hear them in my ear and –," Jack shook his head again.

"I don't understand…" Jack said, "hearing people in your ear, what?" Ginny went to turn and run again but he grabbed her in a firm grasp, his voice coming warningly to her.

"You need to finish this," he said "leave now and you might as well give up the whole mission."

"The mission _will _end if they are taken!"

"They're strong Gin, you know it, there's nothing you can do. Besides, if there are Death Eaters there you will get captured as well; all you are going to do by going is putting yourself in jeopardy."

"_Stupefy!"_ Ginny heard in her ear, breaking away from anything Jack was saying. Her breathing started to speed, her chest rising and falling as she heard a thump in her ear, a fallen body. Jack slowly shook his head,

"Don't Gin," he whispered.

* * *

_Hope you liked it! _

_Pheonixxsong_


	9. Common Sense

**CHAPTER 9**

**Common Sense**

"_For nothing is fixed, forever and forever and forever, it is not fixed; the earth is always shifting, the light is always changing, the sea does not cease to grind down rock. Generations do not cease to be born, and we are responsible to them because we are the only witnesses they have. The sea rises, the light fails, lovers cling to each other, and children cling to us. The moment we cease to hold each other, the sea engulfs us and the light goes out."_ – James Baldwin

* * *

George was watching Ginny address the Aurors on a screen that stood in his apartment, his back to the door. He recognised the voice she was using all too well. The tone that appeared calm, sturdy and authoritative to the rest of the world, but he could hear the fear behind it, the uncertainty. She had used many times to Fred and George when they had suggested ridiculous tasks or challenges she should do in the dullest parts of the holidays. She hated being considered a chicken; and always wanted to reach outside people's expectations of her.

Suddenly, there was a crash near the door, with such force that splinters burst off it and scattered to the floor.

"What the?" He muttered, frowning, his eyes torn from the screen, his hand instinctively reaching for his wand.

Harry had sat up straight and fast, his hand moving to his chest. He was wide awake now, his heart slamming up the edges of his ribcage as another crash was heard before the door gave way. It fell to the ground, leaving a cloud of dust in its wake.

Immediately, before Harry could even respond, a spell was sent at George and he collapsed, falling sideways off his chair and to the ground with a thump. Harry grabbed his sword, dodging a spell, just as he heard,

"That's him, we've got him." He recognised that voice… it was one of the Death Eaters. Harry removed his sword from its sheath, fear ripping through him, _how did they find me? _

He swung his sword humming through the air, before he aimed it at the closest Death Eater, his face masked. It hit his thigh and sliced deep, blood ran down the blade, the Death Eater yelled in pain, clutching the leg and crumpling onto his knees, crimson staining the floor.

"Stun him for God sakes!" He said to the other Death Eater with a pained voice,

"_Stupefy!" _Harry dodged it, jumping to the ground, his eyes continuously moving to George's motionless body and praying he hadn't been hit with the Killing Curse.

"Thought you could get away huh Harry? Believe me; we punished your friends when they seemed rather… _unable _to tell us where you were." The one closest to Harry said, throwing a well-aimed curse at his chest, he dropped just in time.

"What'd you do to them?" He muttered through clenched teeth, the second Death Eater grinned, his hand pressed up against his thigh to kill the flow of blood.

"You'll soon find out, won't you Potter?" He muttered, throwing a curse at Harry. It hit and Harry felt his knees buckle painfully underneath him as he fell to the ground. The Death Eater came to Harry's side, and kicked him in the face, he felt his teeth dig into his lips with impact, he tasted blood, his eyes drooped under the weight of the spell. The man grabbed the top of Harry's head, jerking it upwards into a painful position.

"We are going to be _so _rewarded when they discover we've caught you." He muttered, Harry's blood ran cold, he tried desperately to move his limbs but they refused to, as if they were no longer under his control. He couldn't talk, couldn't move, all he could feel was pain and fear, coursing through his veins and for a minute he willed himself away from his body, to somewhere else. Suddenly, he was hit hard over the head, he heard a sickening crunch before everything went black.

* * *

Harry squinted, his head ached and throbbed in pain… he was alive, he knew that much. The sun was streaming into his eyes causing blurry patterns to develop,

"Are you awake?" Said a female voice, Harry blinked rapidly as blood ran down from his head and he was temporarily blind with tunnel vision.

"Hermione?" He asked, his voice choked.

"No, Ginny." She said impatiently as his eyes came to focus; she was darting around George's apartment, throwing things into a large bag. Her eyes didn't meet with his as she went around.

"…What happened?" He asked, his hand moving to the back of his head where a large lump appeared to have developed, he winced. Ginny paused, a shirt scrunched in her hand, Harry watched her eyes trace down to a spot near Harry on the ground. He looked down; there the two Death Eaters lay dead, a pool of blood circling them, mouths agape. The murders had been done with such ferocity that it seemed unlikely that Ginny could have done it.

"Did… did you do this?" He asked with a mixture of shock and disgust,

"Yes, of course I did," She said, continuing to pack the luggage. "I come in to you and George passed out, the Death Eaters just about to take you and I killed them, nothing more to it." Harry noticed the desperation in her voice, "would you have preferred me to let them take you?" Her eyes challenged him, he shook his head. It wasn't that he wasn't appreciative of what Ginny had done, he was just surprised. He glanced down at the Death Eaters again, realising that both their blood was seeping from a sword wound in their chests.

"And George is?" He asked, fearing the answer.

"Doing damage control at the Ministry with Jack, he was alright luckily, they only hit him with a light spell that knocks you out... clearly they were just after you. I was going to go but Jack used some excuse when I left that would not make sense if I returned, so I've taken the liberty to pack."

"…why?" He could answer the question as soon as he asked it. "Because the Death Eaters know where I am now…" Ginny slowly nodded,

"How else would they have been here?" Harry swung his legs over the side of the couch and stood, ignoring the pain whose absence he could no longer remember. He picked up his sword from amongst the fold of bodies and secured it onto his belt. The attack didn't appear to be coincidental that's for sure; they knew he was here. How? He didn't know.

"Worse case scenario," Harry said to Ginny, "Auror's don't believe us, we go anyway,"

"And get killed." She muttered,

"Smaller numbers could be less obvious so not necessarily," he said, walking into the next room to help clear out.

"No matter how small the number is it'll be obvious when we come to the gates." She answered, "right?" Harry paused, his head resting on the divider between the rooms. He looked at Ginny with one eye,

"Yeah." He said quietly.

"How did you escape last time?" She asked, her eyes glancing over him. He clenched his jaw, not allowing himself to speak and shook his head. Ginny nodded in understanding,

"You look more like yourself today." She said matter-of-factly,

"Maybe you're just getting used to the scars." He whispered, their eyes locked and they stood in silence. Harry broke away from the gaze and walked back into the other room. Everything appeared as normal, however all the necessities had been removed, the clothing pulled from the draws leaving only the ornaments and picture frames at the top – now without photographs.

"Where did all the photographs go?" He called into the other room.

"If the Death Eaters come and they see them they will know they are on the right track, best to be safe." Ginny replied; Harry felt a twinge of guilt, he had destroyed everything for something that could potentially kill them all. An old instinct told him to run, to do it by himself and save the grievance of his friends; but his common sense yelled in protest, and that was what he knew had to follow. He couldn't do this by himself.

* * *

"This is ridiculous!" Yelled a woman from the centre of the room, "If we are to hear the truth we should hear it from Ginny! She is the one who called the meeting,"

"And we've already told you, _multiple _times why she couldn't be here," said George, his hand rubbing over his forehead.

"Then we should have a meeting tomorrow, work out everything. We can't just jump into it, we aren't in school anymore – this needs planning if we are going to do _whatever _it is that you're suggesting. This needs time and _effort_ and _strategies_."

"Time and effort and strategies are good for those who have time!" Said Jack angrily, "we don't! So strategies shall have to be made whilst on the journey." George gave Jack a look of 'we're in trouble,' but Jack dismissed him. A light-haired man with a scar stretching across half his face and tattoos swimming down his arms spoke in such a contrasting tone to the yelling voices that everyone stopped dead to listen.

"Has this even been discussed with the Minister?" He asked, when neither answered he leant forward, his elbows resting on his knees. "Did she even _verify_ this meeting?" George clenched his teeth, lines of excuses ran through his head – ones used on many occasions by himself and Fred to get out of trouble, but none would help him with the situation at hand, and he was stuck speechless. This was what Ginny was meant to have done.

"Just because Ginny is an esteemed witch does not give her every right in the world to do as she pleases." The man continued, "You have to follow the rules to ensure safety and knowledge in fields such as these," he stood up, "and I won't stand another minute until she is here, she has spoken to the Minister and we actually are talking of _plans _rather than possibilities. We are Aurors, most of the men and women I see sitting around here are ones who have done a great deal for the Ministry. We don't have _time_ for shenanigans of mythical lands and talk of going on massive journeys to a place we are sure doesn't exist."

He put his finger onto the table as if pointing to something, "we need evidence, we need proof, we need something concrete… and I see by the nods of those surrounding me that I'm not the only one who thinks so." He pulled his leather jacket off the back of his chair and walked out of the room, leaving a murmur in his wake. Jack and George looked at each other, urging the other to speak. A couple of Aurors, held by loyalty, shifted in their chairs but did not move – while the others stood and left without another word. Jack let out a silent sigh,

"The meeting is over," he muttered, and with those words the last few rose from their chairs and left.

"That's it?" George said, "The meeting is over, you weren't even going to say anything to them?"

"Well I didn't see _you _coming up with anything!" He said defensively. He sighed, "Ginny is going to kill me."

* * *

Jack and George came through the door, and immediately Ginny looked up.

"They," Jack began, shutting the door, "they want proof Gin. They want to talk to you and they want you to follow protocol by talking to the Minister and verifying the meeting." Ginny sighed angrily,

"You -," she opened her mouth and closed it again; "look, okay, whatever. I'll have to fix it." She thought for a split second, "You two should stay and continue packing then go back to our apartment and finish there. Har… James, you come with me." Harry nodded cautiously, George mouthed _are you okay?_ He nodded in response,

"Why are you bringing him?" Asked Jack,

"They want proof?" Muttered Ginny, "I guess we'll have to give it to them." Harry frowned but followed her, curiosity running through his veins.

"Where are we going?" Asked Harry, walking swiftly next to Ginny, the asphalt was hard underneath their shoes,

"We have many places to go," She said, "and very little time to do it."

"So I guess it would help if I _knew _what we were doing?" Ginny smirked,

"Never did like being left in the dark did you?" She walked up a set of stairs and pulled a key from her pocket. The houses around glowed with life, with a drum beat heard from the neighbours, who were playing some form of old Metal band at full capacity. Ginny entered the house,

"This is… your's isn't it?"

"Sheesh Harry, you were only here very recently," she replied. The whole suburb appeared completely different at night than it did in daylight. Either that or at the time he was more focused on getting inside the door to see Ginny than he was on anything around him. Harry waited at the entrance to the room while Ginny ran upstairs at a quick pace, jumping two stairs at a time. A minute later she returned, a slip of parchment clasped in her hand,

"You came here for… that?" He asked, alarmed.

"Yes,"

"What is it?" Ginny paused and looked down at her hands, with a small sigh she handed it to him. Harry unfolded it, his eyes catching on two words in an elegant scrawl at the top of the parchment,

"My… Death Certificate?" He asked, his voice unbelieving, he was well and truly dead to the world. _Harry James Potter, _he read,

"I was given it," Ginny said, "after you disappeared mum logged you as dead so that it became final to the world and so that we could move on. Due to the fact you had no parents, I asked if I could take it… so, I did, and it's been hidden for a long time." She took it from him, and looked down, not meeting his eyes "we have to keep moving." Harry didn't like her business tone, but he nodded regardless.

She locked the door and in a swift movement she grabbed his hand. Harry heart caught in his throat and he laced his hand through hers, and with that Ginny appararated without warning, Harry felt the world fall away from underneath him and return just as quickly. He fell to the ground, the contact between himself and Ginny was gone and instead he felt damp grass underneath him, its water bled through the fabric of the knees of his pants.

"You don't just randomly _apparate people_!" he said angrily, steadying himself to his feet and brushing grass from his jeans.

"…bad habit," she said apologetically.

"I'll say," he muttered, angry at both Ginny and himself. He was mad at the teenage Harry inside him, the boy who was in love… the one which appeared to continuously raise its head and with it, all the emotions he remembered feeling. He knew better, but lust and the remembrance of what _could have been_ put a stop in knowing and brought up possibilities. He sighed silently,

"Where are - "

"Around the corner from St. Mungo's,"

"…_why?" _

"To get a DNA test." She said simply, and without another words set off at her swift walk. Harry clenched his jaw but followed, pushing any emotion he felt away. They weren't important; they didn't even deserve a second thought. They were only memories and that was all they'd ever be. He was sure of it.

* * *

_Sorry about the longer wait than usual - I've just gotten a new laptop (my other one died .. got to a point where it wouldn't save word documents anymore) and I had to re-write a great deal. Plus I'm not really up to where I'd like to be - having only just begun Chapter 12 (I've been focussing more on later chapters)_

_Anyway, hope you liked this one! Let me know what you thought. _

_Pheonixxsong _


	10. Convincing

**Chapter 10**

**Convincing **

Harry felt dizzy, he rubbed his arm; certain he could still feel the needle inside it. He had assumed that a blood test would have been done differently in the wizarding world, but no, apparently the use of a needle into a vein was acceptable in every society.

"How long are we going to be _waiting_ here for?" Ginny said loudly, so that the passing doctors could hear, the receptionist looked up angrily then back down. Ginny bounced one of her legs up and down in an almost nervous twitch and checked her watch.

"Are you going to tell me what is going on?" Harry asked, not meeting her eyes,

"I'll tell you what is going on, we are waiting for results of a DNA test, _waiting!_" She directed the last word at the receptionist loudly.

"That's not what I meant." Harry said,

"I know what you meant Harry. I've already told you, we are getting the results, then convincing the Minister and then meeting the Aurors, very simple."

"What are you going to _tell _the Aurors?" Harry was finding it hard to stop the annoyed tone in his voice.

"Anything that will convince them," Ginny said, turning to look at him. Harry sighed impatiently, rubbing his hand over his stump finger; Ginny watched him, frowning in thought she turned and looked away.

After much sighing and impatient mumbling, a woman called Ginny and Harry up to give them the results. But as she went to hand Ginny the forms, her eyes glazed over the name on the test. She looked from Harry to the results and back again, putting two and two together. Ginny finally snatched them off her and scanned them herself; she looked up at Harry and smiled at him for a moment.

"Alright Harry," she said, "let's go."

* * *

As Harry walked swiftly through the Ministry of Magic with Ginny he couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia. Although most of his memories of the Ministry were frightening or unpleasant experiences, it reminded him of the past, how it used to be… how he wished it was. A few witches and wizards looked Harry up and down as they passed; he pulled his jacket close around him.

"So, what's this new Minister like?" He asked, wanting to make some conversation, Ginny laughed to herself.

"What's she like? Well, nothing like we've had in the past, that's for sure." Ginny nodded at a few individuals as they walked past. "Her name is Jacquelyn Bowler," she muttered, "she's not a witch," Ginny said. Harry raised his eyebrows, "nor a squib."

"What is she then? A muggle?" Ginny thought for a minute,

"She's not a muggle either… it's hard to explain really," she said finally. "Some people call her the 'enlightened one,' or something, but I think that's a little overdramatic. All I know is that she has a hell of a lot of power, beyond anyone in the Ministry."

"Isn't it a bit dangerous to have someone that powerful in charge of everything?"

"Not when they're on our side," she said with a smile. Harry was thoroughly confused and curious about this new Minister. Somehow having someone with power over them all spelt danger for Harry, but if she had ruled over them all for a while now, and still hadn't shown any degree of an evil side he wasn't one to complain.

Suddenly several men were standing in front of them, wands raised, all pointing directly at Harry's chest. Each man wore a dark-blue uniform with a white emblem crested with the letters M.P on their chest. One swished his wand and his legs fell from underneath him, his body was pressed uncomfortably hard to the cold floor.

"You've _got _to be joking," Ginny stated angrily. "Let him go boys, he's with me."

"You know the rules Ginny," one said with a gruff voice, "what is your purpose to be entering the Ministry?"

"Secret Auror's business," replied Ginny, "He's got a visitors badge, let him through," the man grit his teeth but didn't move. Ginny sighed and put on a fake charming smile, "we're in fact going to see the Minister now if you'd like to escort us?" There was a long moment in which Ginny and the man stared at each other, Harry pinned uncomfortably to the floor. But then the man sighed and flicked his wand – Harry was able to move again, like a boulder had been removed from his back. He stood slowly, keeping an eye on the men.

"We'll let him go through _this _time… consider it a favour Ginny seeming you freed my innocent cousin from Azkaban last year. But don't try it again, you know the protocol." Ginny smiled and nodded,

"Thankyou." She continued walking; Harry followed her with his hand fastened securely around his sword.

"Who were they?" He said, as soon as they were out of ear-range.

"Ministry Protectors," she stated. "Like guards really, the security around this place has been stepped up several notches since the Ministry regained power. Probably saw that you still had your sword and your wand so they acted on protocol." Harry slowly nodded, and rubbed the back of his neck, which had stiffened and begun throbbing after they knocked him to the ground.

"Pretty painful protocol," he said, Ginny laughed.

* * *

Ginny tapped on Minister of Magic's door, before carefully folding back any stray hairs behind her ears.

"Stay out here," she whispered to Harry, "I'll talk to her." Harry wanted to protest but the look in Ginny's eyes stopped him. "If I need you," she said, sensing that a rebuttal was on the tip of his tongue, "I'll call for you… just wait out here okay?" Harry frowned, "please?"

"Alright," he said. Ginny knocked again and the door casually opened, admitting her inside. Harry sighed and leant against the cinderblock wall, he foot tapping impatiently as he waited. The minutes in which Ginny talked to the Minister seemed like hours, the seconds like minutes. Harry also kept getting the feeling that he was being watched by something other than the witches and wizards who passed him with curious expressions. It made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, and he kept clutching his sword – prepared for an ambush. Harry still couldn't figure out how the Death Eaters had found him, he hadn't left any trail behind him – he was sure of it. The thought that they were searching for him made him sick to his stomach, he couldn't imagine going back to Vereor nex, to be once again completely under the control of Death Eaters. The door suddenly opened and Ginny swiftly stepped out, her expression neutral.

"She wants to see you," Ginny muttered. Harry frowned and followed her through the door and into the office. When he stepped in he realised the room was completely altered from the last time he had been in there – and not just with the interior, the room itself actually appeared twice as large. The office gave off a consistent whirring noise, with the occasional croak of an odd looking frog which sat on the desk its several eyes darting around the room in pleasure. The place was full of tanks containing several different creatures, each more obscure from the last. The one that amazed Harry the most was a bat, who occasionally went as transparent as air.

Harry turned to look at the woman behind the desk. She looked younger than any other Minister Harry had seen, she couldn't have been more than three years his senior. Her eyes were closed, head bowed as if in prayer. Jacquelyn was pale, with hair as dark as Harry's and long skeletal fingers.

"Mr. Potter," she finally said, her voice reeking of authority, she looked him deep in the eye. Harry was not sure whether or not he should look away – her entire eyes were snow white in colouring, with no pupil or iris. He nodded his head in greeting, she smirked,

"I could sense your presence from the moment you entered this building. It's so interesting and lovely to see you alive and well." Harry was not sure what to say, so he said nothing and waited for her to continue. Although Jacquelyn appeared to be completely blind, she stood and walked around the table; her arms crossed in front of her and stared at Harry as if she had eyes just like anyone else.

"Vereor nex," she said, her long fingers reaching towards his face. Harry longed to back away, yet his manners held him stationary – the last thing he wanted to do was to anger her. "Hm, yes," she said nodded, "deep scars all over your body… the scars on your face however, shallow as they may be –change your appearance." She placed her other hand on his face as well, running them over every divot and line that had appeared from torture. Jacquelyn shut her white eyes suddenly, and raised her head to his, her dark lips clasping over Harry's. Harry tried to move away but found himself unable to, his eyes darted to Ginny who was staring at them, with what Harry swore, or perhaps hoped, was a twinge of jealousy. As quickly as she had kissed him, Jacquelyn pulled away and tilted her head slightly,

"That's better," she said, sounding breathless, she returned to her seat. Harry placed his hands to his face, and instead of feeling rough lines and bumps from scars – his face felt completely smooth. Ginny was staring at him, her eyebrows arched in captivated amazement. Harry swallowed, now unable to express his gratitude, but before he could even try the Minister began to talk again.

"Vereor nex," she said again, "two Latin words meaning, 'to respect violent death.' I've heard of this place – however it became myth as time moved on, and you say it is real?"

"Unfortunately," Harry responded.

"So," said the Minister, "Death Eaters captured you, did a stunning display of wizard pyrotechnics and then kept you, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley away from the world to torture you…" she muttered simply, "did they want you for any real reason?"

"Wanted to know how to bring Voldemort back," Harry replied, "other than that, they were just happy to have the three of us behind bars." Jacquelyn nodded slowly,

"Harry I sense a lot of guilt in you," she said, tilting her head, Harry swallowed, wondering if she was reading his thoughts.

"Yes, I guess there is." Jacquelyn nodded slowly,

"Blood on hands, hands of time, side-kick dispersing at 7-0-9…" she was frowning, as if lost in thought. Harry and Ginny looked at each other for a moment with raised eyebrows before Jacquelyn slowly turned to Ginny.

"Ginny, I give you full permission to go ahead with this mission, try to bring back as many captives as you can alive – however I understand if the odd Death Eater's life must be lost. Nevertheless you must shut this place down for good, beyond any possible repair." Ginny stood straight, and nodded,

"Yes ma'am, thankyou for your support," she replied.

"Harry Potter, you will be the soul navigator – I trust you remember how to get there?"

"Yes," he replied, nodding.

"Very well," she muttered, "I'll be keeping a very close eye on this mission. Do not let me down," she paused for a second to let her words sink in. "That is all," she stated, leaning back in her chair. Ginny left the room first, and as Harry went to follow he heard Jacquelyn say something softly, only to him, her clear white eyes seemed to stare into his core.

"Hansel and Gretel left a trail, but only the wolves followed… get rid of the breadcrumbs Harry," Harry frowned for a moment, trying to decipher the meaning of what she had just said.

"Thankyou for your help," he stated, confused, and shut the door. Ginny was standing on the other side,

"Told you she was hard to explain," she muttered quietly, her eyes stayed on him. "Your face…" she reached out a hand timidly to touch it, Harry grabbed her hand and placed it on his cheek.

"No scars," he whispered as he let go,

"No scars…" she repeated.

* * *

_Oohh riddles riddles riddles. What do they mean? If you have theories let me know. _

_I had fun writing the last bits of this chapter. I hope you like it. I'll post the next one up soon :)_

_Someone asked the reason as to why I write a few chapters beyond what I post - this is because when I suffer writers block, I have a few chapters to fall back on so I can keep posting every week. Like at the moment, I'm still stuck on the twelfth chapter - I just can't get the words right... Mmm. _

_I also have been asked why everyone has swords.. Well,  
1. I love swords, haha, so I had to add them in  
2. It's believed to be a more noble death to die from the blade than the Killing Curse - I'll explain that later_

Mmhm. I've also applied to a bunch of you privately with some answers to your questions. Hope they made sense! :) 

_Phoenixxsong_


	11. Tension

**CHAPTER 11**

**Tension**

Ginny had all the Aurors assemble once more. Despite Harry's best efforts he could not get a word out of her edge-wise as to what she was going to say to them. In addition Ginny remained hostile towards him – Harry thought that when the Minister healed his face and Ginny saw him again that perhaps she would finally let him into her life a bit more, but his hopes were incorrect. After examining Harry's face she had taken off at a swift walk; and for the rest of their time alone had only said things to him when he asked questions, and even then her responses were vague.

Now, Ginny and Harry stood in the room surrounded by Aurors. Their expressions were not amused, however occasionally Harry felt curious and interested eyes on him. Some appeared to almost be annoyed at being called back, like the meeting was going to be a waste of time – just as the last one had been.

"Hello, _again, _fellow Aurors," Ginny began, "last time was a failure, but I'm afraid I had a very important matter to attend to. I'm sure I do not need to remind you why we are here." No one responded in any way, but there was an uncomfortable shuffling of cloth against the seats. Ginny cleared her throat, an evil smile twitching on her lips,

"I do not want to threaten making unbreakable vows… no that's a lie I _do _want to threaten you with an unbreakable vow but I think it'll be a waste of time to perform it so many times, and you all know I will." No one raised an objection, "so, I am going to pass this sheet around and I want everyone to sign it," She passed the sheet of paper to the man closest to her, "after that we can get down to business." She watched as the Aurors hesitated, the pen coming to the paper as they made a spit-second decision and wrote their name in script before passing it on. Harry shifted slightly as the parchment came back to Ginny, she scanned the names and put it on the desk behind her. Casually, she started to stalk the room; she felt the eyes of everyone on her, and the swift and curious silence that met it.

"So, you all wanted proof huh?" Said Ginny, her eyebrows raised angrily, mocking them. "Here's your proof." She gestured to Harry; Ginny slammed a bunch of papers on the table, spreading them out and pointing to them as she spoke. "The results of a DNA test, a Death Certificate, and articles written on the disappearance of Harry James Potter."

"You mean the _death_ of Harry Potter right?"

"No, the _disappearance_." She said, emphasising every syllable. The Auror's murmured in confusion, some casting Harry side-glances. She felt Harry grab the back of her coat, he whispered,

"What are you _doing_?" She turned around, meeting his eyes; they flashed a bright green,

"Trust me." Ginny whispered back, he frowned and slowly let the coat fall from his grasp. She turned to the Aurors, "everything you hear in this room will remain with yourselves and yourselves only. This is a Top Secret mission, and you are all involved." Ginny saw a set of faces smile to themselves as if it were an honour, others went stern in preparation.

"If anyone feels the dire need to tell someone, it will be ensured that it is the last thing they will ever say." The smiles disappeared in an instant, "who here can tell me what happened on the night of the disappearance of Hermione Jane Granger, Ronald Bilius Weasley and Harry James Potter?" She paused momentarily, smirking to herself and realising how simple it must have been for Harry to pick a false name. She felt Harry's curiosity burst beside her, he shifted and fidgeted waiting for an answer. An Auror stood, starting to maintain the code that was used at Auror meetings,

"Gene Fillius," He said, before stating his credentials which included and Order of Merlin and the capture of several dangerous Death Eaters, whose names he had memorised. "Due to reports made by some of the Weasley family," he muttered, "apparently they burst into flame, there was a flash of green light, and all of a sudden they were gone. Due to the fact that there was ash remaining, it appeared that some sort of flame curse was used, ending in their combustion." Harry snorted, the man shifted, "and because they all let out a terrible scream before falling silent we were led to believe it was a particularly _painful_ curse…" With that he sat down, Ginny nodded as if she found this interesting. Harry shook his head, wanting to correct the man, but he kept silent. He didn't want to tell his story… by doing that he'd have to recount the tortures after that, and again the faces of Ron and Hermione would blaze in his head, an imprint, something which he was trying so hard not to think of.

"Was the ash ever identified as the remains of any of these individuals?" Ginny asked,

"No." Said the same man, remaining seated this time, "the samples were taken for testing but there was no conclusive evidence due to the amount of deterioration and the tampering that had been done to it."

"So there was no proof that any of them died _really _was there? Asides from some accounts that they all disappeared suddenly." Harry wanted to point out that Ginny was practically the only one who witnessed these happenings, but she already knew - and clearly didn't want to say anything for effective purposes.

"Wrong." Said the man who had previously questioned Jack and Fred, immediately all heads turned to him, "there was some remains, a finger in fact, which belonged to Ronald Weasley," he paused, "your brother." Everyone turned back to Ginny expecting her to be ashamed or shocked but she merely smirked.

"Interesting." She said, "I seem to recall something _very similar _happening to one Peter Pettigrew."

"The Death Eater Peter Pettigrew is dead."

"Thankyou, I didn't know," She said, her voice laced with cruel sarcasm. "It doesn't mean his ideas did not pass on, considering how well it worked last time." Harry frowned, why hadn't he thought of that? It made perfect sense. The man considered the words before shifting back into his seat. Casually, Ginny gestured at Harry and his heart skipped a beat. "I introduce to you," she said slowly, "the perfectly _undead_, Harry James Potter." Harry had expected an eruption of questions, mutterings, yells of protest, his heart was beating so hard in his chest that it appeared to make the earth underneath his feet shake, but all there was, was silence. People stared awestruck; some looked disbelieving, but regardless – silent.

"Do you have the… scar?" Asked one of them, a clog came up in Harry's throat and he became unable to talk, his mind flashed back to Ron, sitting across from him on the Hogwarts Express at the young age of eleven, _"And have you really got – you know…" _The room waited for an answer, but all he was able to do was nod. Ginny, sensing his discomfort stepped in,

"It's faded," she said, sitting on the desk casually. "Vereor nex made sure of it," she searched their faces, "it may seem unbelievable but you are going to _have _to believe it. Because I do, the Minister does, and what more, we have proof and we are the only army there is." The man at the back rested his elbows on the table,

"You're not asking us are you?"

"No," Ginny said, "I'm telling you." The man reached forward and grabbed the results of the DNA test, scanning them with his eyes he put it back.

"Then my hands are pretty much tied aren't they?" He muttered, "what do we have to do?" Harry waited for Ginny to speak, but she didn't. No one did, every eye intently rested on him.

"You expect me to do this do you?" Harry whispered to Ginny,

"Yes, I got them to the place of _wanting_ to help; you need to tell them what to do."

"And you don't think a warning would have been nice?"

"Do you think you can shut up and do as you're told?" She muttered in a violent whisper.

"Do you think you could stop having a stick so far up your ass?" Harry replied, forgetting to whisper, a couple Auror's smiled, amused.

"Real mature…"

"My middle name."

"You're ridiculous." Ginny clenched her jaw, and faced him dead on, forgetting about all the Auror's watching them.

"And you're apparently a bitch." Replied Harry angrily, "I spent god knows how long in a cell being tortured, and I'm more normal than you. You've completely forgotten who you are, who Ginny is. You randomly apparate people, you stab people in the chest without a conscious thought, you don't tell me _anything _anymore. It's like you aren't even you." In a flash Ginny removed a sword from her sheath, she pushed Harry against the wall with her hand.

"I've changed, we both have." Harry pushed her hand off his chest and moved away from the wall, removing his own sword as he did so.

"But how much?" They stared each other down, then without thinking Ginny slammed her sword against his; it sent a shrill ring through the air, and with that, a duel began. It lasted only a minute before Ginny was disarmed; her sword fell to the ground with a clatter, leaving a hushed silence in its wake. Harry picked it up, feeling the anger that bubbled inside him calm and disappear. He swallowed, hating himself. He placed his sword back into his sheath, looking over the table of Auror's.

"This trip isn't going to be easy." He said his voice clear and stern. "You may die, I may die… but, if we don't even attempt to do this, we will. No question." He sighed, running his hand through his hair, "I may be Harry Potter, but as far as you are all concerned, my name is James. Say I am Harry Potter and god knows what will happen." He looked around the room, "we're going to leave the day after tomorrow, so get prepared." The Auror's stood without a word and left the room, some came up to Harry and clapped him on the back, stating how glad they were that he was alive. When all the Aurors had dispersed, Harry and Ginny were left alone in a screaming silence. Harry didn't turn around to look at her, and she didn't move.

"If there _was _no real evidence, then why didn't you look for us?" Harry said suddenly, glancing at Ginny; she looked at him as if he had just slapped her.

"I saw you burst into flame," she said so quietly he had to lean it to hear her. "You pushed me out of the way Harry, the heroic bastard you are… and I saw you burst into flame." He looked up, then back down, "I looked anyway," she sighed, taking her sword and securing it to her belt, "a year I looked." She gathered up the papers, "then I was forced to stop."

"Forced?"

"Mum." She said simply, "I needed to stop; I had gotten into a bad state. A really bad state and I was told that if I didn't stop I would be sent to St. Mungo's next to Lockhart."

"You're mum would have never done that."

"Wouldn't she?" Ginny shot back almost angrily, "you didn't see me back then Harry." They stared at each other until Ginny shook her head, as if trying to shake thoughts from it. "Yes, I've changed. But that's what loosing almost everyone I cared about did to me." Harry clenched his jaw,

"I'm sorry I left you," he said to her, she smiled slightly.

"Wasn't really your fault Harry," Ginny traced a finger over her sword's hilt. Harry found himself fighting with the uncontrollable urge to hold her again.

"I missed you," he found himself saying without a real conscious thought, "every day."

"Same here," Ginny muttered back. She took a few paces towards him, looking up into his eyes, "every day." Harry reached out and placed his hand around the back of her neck. Ginny moved closer towards him, he could feel his skin against his, her eyes imploring him. Slowly, he leant his face down to hers, their lips were close, Harry could feel the heat from Ginny's on his own. However, just as they began to touch their moment was shattered with the door opening. Ginny reacted as if someone had just burned her – she jumped away from Harry, her pulse racing, and pretended to be fixing up the sheets of paper on the table. Harry glared up at the door with annoyance; an Auror stood there; he looked both of them up and down, his blonde hair in his eyes,

"Forgot my jacket," he muttered distractedly, moving swiftly into the room and taking the denim jacket from the back of a chair; he then left as quickly as he came. Ginny sighed, relieved when he left.

"We should go," she said, looking at Harry with an expression he was unable to read. Harry merely nodded in reply and followed her from the room, his mind swimming with possibilities, and what might've happened if they weren't interrupted.

* * *

_A quick update in celebration of finishing the 12th chapter - the next update will take a bit longer!_

_Thought I'd give you Ginny/Harry loving people something to think about._

_Let me know what you thought! I love reading reviews, it's great._

_Someone asked:_

_I was wondering - is harry a great wizard in your story? i.e. i don't feel  
like harry has the aura of power or that he commands attention by his  
appearance and voice or..any of those potter characteristics for Your  
particular harry potter. He's very timid instead and his reactions are way low  
- he got pinned to the floor by some ministry guys - he's harry potter! cmon!  
he doesn't get pinned down by regular blokes!_

_In case other people were wondering, I felt I should answer on here. Harry was never super-powerful in Rowling's depiction... it was explained multiple times that the only reason he survived so many things was out of sheer luck. No doubt he was an exceptional wizard - but he wasn't super-human. The Harry Potter I've written about has changed from J.K's Harry, yes. He is timid, he doesn't exude confidence.. but he's been stuck in a cell and tortured to death for God knows how long - wouldn't you be a more like that?  
He got pinned by Ministry blokes, yeah. He was taken off-guard - and there were multiple of them. There were many times in the Harry Potter novels that Harry was taken off guard... take for example when he said Voldemort's name and was tied up and such. Mmhm.  
Hope that answers the question! _

_Pheonixxsong _


	12. Reactions

**CHAPTER 12**

**Reactions**

As Ginny and Harry walked out of the Ministry in silence, Harry's mind kept swimming over what the Minister had said to him. Did she know things Harry did not? Could she perhaps see into the future?

"_Blood on hands, hands of time, side-kick dispersing at 7-0-9," _Harry muttered inaudibly to himself. But the more he thought about it, the more the line confused him. _At 7-0-9_, was that a time, co-ordinates, a code, or something completely different?

And how about the other one she said as Harry left, "_Hansel and Gretel left a trail, but only the wolves followed… get rid of the breadcrumbs Harry." _Was she referring to how the Death Eaters found him? Did he leave a trail behind? The thought that Death Eaters were following him made him feel sick to his stomach. He looked over his shoulder cautiously, just making sure that there wasn't a figure in the background, looming in the shadows and stalking his every move. Harry was concentrating so hard on these riddles that he was taken by surprise when Ginny grabbed his hand again and apparated. It was an unspoken agreement between them that they wouldn't talk about what happened to anyone – the moment where they almost kissed, almost returned to old ways. Ginny seemed to be dead set on forgetting it, so Harry attempted to do the same.

They reappeared outside George's apartment, as soon as their feet were on solid ground Ginny pushed Harry's hand away as fast as she could, as if it were somehow contaminated.

"You know, I can apparate perfectly well by myself," he muttered a little angrily. He didn't like not talking about it, what they refused to discuss had become like a barrier between them.

"Old habits die hard," Ginny replied, matching his angry tone. They stared at each other for a few seconds, summing each other up.

"Apparently," Harry muttered under his breathe. Ginny raised her eyebrows at him and shook her head, disregarding what he had said. Harry almost felt like duelling her again, to get out all this anger and frustration into something practical. He wanted to have both Ginny's and his swords in his hands, to feel a small sense of victory, because at that moment he felt like everything else in his life was failing in one shape or form. Harry loved using his sword; he had always felt a connection to it ever since he first pulled it out of the sorting hat. He also felt it was a more noble death to die from a blade than from the Killing Curse. After the battle, Ginny had bought a sword and together they trained, until the swords they held in their hands felt like a familiar friend.

When Harry looked up, Ginny was staring at George's apartment door, a deep frown etched on her face, nodding her head abruptly as if counting in her head.

"Ginny, what're you – ,"

"Sh!" She warned, raising her arm and continuing to frown and nod, occasionally counting on her fingers. Harry looked at the door and immediately saw what Ginny was looking at; there in George's scrawl were several numbers.

_14 6 14 8 – 11 15 26 24 22 _

Harry frowned at it, curious as to what it meant but he waited patiently for Ginny to finish.

"Okay," she sighed, grabbing the sheet from the door and plunging it into her pocket. She then grabbed Harry's hand again and apparated. When their feet touched solid ground she dropped his hand again and withdrew the piece of parchment from her pocket in a single motion. "See this?" She asked, raising it to Harry's face, "this is code… my family created it for security purposes. It's very simple, each number represents a letter… the letter 'Z' for example, is the number '1'… 'Y' is '2'… you get me?" Harry nodded, "this says 'Mum's house.'"

"But why?" Harry asked,

"Well the Death Eaters found you, didn't they? So obviously George's apartment isn't safe… so we can't stay there… and we can't leave any trail behind that we ever were there. I suppose Mum's house is the only place George could go to that would be accommodating for our needs," Harry slowly nodded as Ginny pushed the parchment back into her pocket. He looked around at his surroundings. They were standing in a reasonably large yard filled with various shrubs and flowers. A garage stood to the right of them, its rotten wooden doors closed but Harry could swear he could see a car within it. In front of them was a tall house made of a dark brick, it had this old-fashioned feel to it but it didn't hold the same comfort and familiarity as the Burrow.

"This is where your parents live now?" Harry asked curiously,

"Yeah," said Ginny, "The Burrow burnt down – while we were still in it actually, we managed to apparate out before any serious damage was done to us." Harry saw Ginny's hand subconsciously run over a small red blister on her arm before she began strolling to the front door, Harry followed.

"What're we going to do about…"

"You?"

"Yes…" Ginny frowned in thought for a moment as they arrived at a dark wooden door. She rapped on it with her knuckles a few times and there was the distinctive sound of shuffling inside.

"Not entirely sure to be honest…" Ginny said slowly.

"_Who is it?_" Harry heard a voice say from inside, it sounded like George.

"It's us," Ginny said.

"Well _us _could technically mean anyone…" said George's voice "is it the good '_us' _or the bad '_us'?_" Ginny let out a deep sigh and rolled her eyes,

"It's just _us_, okay?"

There was the sound of a lock clicking and the door opened an inch, the slightly amused eye of George was spotted.

"What is your favourite colour?" He mused

"This isn't a quest for the freaking Holy Grail George, just let me in!"

"Do not mock the precautions!" George said in the perfect imitation of Mrs. Weasley's voice, Harry snorted. Ginny pulled her wand out of her pocket,

"I'm still the best bat-bogey hexer you ever knew George, don't tempt me." A flicker of a smile went across her face. George rolled his eyes and opened the door,

"Stubborn much?" He said to himself in an irritated whisper.

"Who is it?" Came Mrs. Weasley's voice from the other room,

"Ginny!" George called back as Ginny stepped through the threshold.

Harry followed her but was soon stopped, as the door was suddenly shut in his face. Harry vaguely heard Ginny say,

"Hi mum," Harry pushed on the door but obviously Ginny was leaning against it because it remained shut. He sighed impatiently and placed his head against the wood, hoping to hear what they were saying inside.

"What's going on?" Mrs. Weasley had replied. There was a pause; Harry could almost feel Mrs. Weasley's eyes looking both George and Ginny up and down. "You're hiding something," she said suspiciously.

"No we're not," Ginny replied almost too quickly, there was another silence.

"Whose that I saw behind you then?" There was a brief silence,

"No one."

"Mmm," Mrs. Weasley replied. Harry heard the sounds of Ginny being shoved away from the door. It opened slightly and the eye of Mrs. Weasley could only be seen, she looked Harry up and down very briefly, her lips pursed.

"Oh, it's that stranger you took in," she stated disapprovingly. The door was left open a crack and Harry took this as an invitation to come inside. As he stepped through the door he noticed Ginny was leaning against the wall to his left, and George was sitting on the couch, his elbows on his knees. As he entered he whispered to Ginny so only she could hear,

"_And after locking me out what exactly did you plan on doing?" _To which she responded with a one-armed shrug, he sighed impatiently. Harry observed that Jack wasn't in the room, which moderately pleased him. Harry was sure that the moment Ginny saw him she would get a guilty expression on her face; also, Harry didn't want to watch Jack's fawning attitude towards Ginny for another minute if he could, he found it somewhat sickening – like watching a clichéd romantic movie.

Mrs. Weasley was standing in the middle of the room, looking at George with her back to Harry and her hands on her hips. On Harry's entrance Mrs. Weasley turned around briefly, her eyes darted over Harry's body and resting the sword now in Harry's belt, she frowned then looked up at George in impatience. But George wasn't looking at her, he staring at Harry with such intensity it felt to Harry as if his eyes were burning holes in his skin. Harry had completely forgotten about his face being healed until that moment – when a small grin spread across George's face, but under Mrs. Weasley's stare it soon disappeared.

"Something _is _going on, I know it."

"Mum," began George, clearing his throat slightly, "we're grown people, we don't need you to constantly hound on us anymore…"

"_Hound _on you?" She asked angrily.

"Okay, maybe that was a poor choice of words…" George muttered calmly, "but it's our business…we don't have to constantly involve you."

"Oh," Said Mrs. Weasley, raising her eyebrows. George immediately realised he had said the wrong thing and recoiled slightly in his chair. "I see… so the fact that I _raised you_ means nothing to you? That my blood runs in your veins?" George looked to Ginny for help but all she could do was grimace and shrug, indicating her helplessness. "I know you both inside out and I know when you're hiding something, so go ahead, say it." George rubbed his hand over his eyes,

"It does involve her," Ginny said to George, although she was looking at Harry. "I just… didn't want to give her false hope until we knew for sure."

"Knew what for sure?" Asked Mrs. Weasley, her eyes moving between her two children's faces.

"It's complicated mum," he mumbled, and then waved his hand in the direction of Harry. Mrs. Weasley frowned and turned to look at Harry, whose heart was now speeding in his chest. She only glanced at his face briefly before she turned back to George,

"Yes, I've already seen –," she began, but then stopped and did a double take, her eyes soaking up Harry's features. Mrs. Weasley looked practically the same since Harry last saw her, but there was something in her eyes that had completely changed, just like he had seen in George's. Grey hair streaked the bright red now, and her face told her that she was aging. A pink scar swung along her chin but it was almost unnoticeable. Mrs. Weasley was staring at Harry with an unreadable expression, she was frowning slightly but all the rest of her face remained relaxed.

"He came from Vereor nex," Ginny explained simply, Mrs. Weasley swallowed and tilted her head faintly as the room became wrapped in a deathly silence. Harry shifted uncomfortably, he wasn't sure how she was going to react once the silence ended, was she going to be as hard to convince as Ginny?

"I'm seeing things," she whispered finally, still carrying the same expression. "I have to be seeing things…" Mrs. Weasley opened and shut her eyes a number of times, as if Harry was an illusion that would soon disappear. She moved slowly towards him, her shaking hand resting on his stubbled cheek,

"It's Harry mum," said Ginny, "we checked." Mrs. Weasley's mouth opened gradually and an inhuman wail came out of it. Harry was tempted to almost turn and run at the sound until she opened her arms and hugged Harry with an extremely tight embrace.

"Harry," she repeated over and over whilst hugging him, "Harry… Harry!"

"Hi Mrs. Weasley," he choked back, her grip was incredibly tight. When she pulled away her eyes were glistening with tears, her hands once again rested on his cheeks.

"Harry!" She repeated, shaking his head slightly with her hands. Harry smiled at her; at that moment he wanted to tell her everything, yet he couldn't find the right words to express how he felt. However, slowly Harry noticed an angry expression storming across her face and she turned suddenly to face George,

"You _knew,_" she accused.

"I'm sorry?" George asked, looking bewildered at this sudden alteration of emotion she was displaying.

"You knew he was alive and you didn't _tell me?_ You should have called me as soon as you found out! You don't think this is perhaps information I would _like to know_? I am your _mother_, and you didn't even tell me! Guess how that makes me feel George."

"Yes mum, upset, I know… but – ,"

"You're bloody right upset!" Tears had sprung to her eyes now, she pulled a tissue from her sleeve and dabbed her eyes. However, George looked genuinely guilty, and this seemed to sooth her somewhat.

"I know mum, I know… and we're really sorry, we've been busy. But there's more,"

"More?" She asked, her eyes on Harry.

"Yes…" George said, clearing his throat. It was obvious now that he was afraid of his mother's reaction. "Ron and Hermione," he began, "well, they're most likely alive too. They're not here, Harry was the only one who managed to escape and –," but before he could finish he was cut off by Mrs. Weasley once again letting off a long wail. Her knees buckled underneath her and she covered her face with her hands, rocking backwards and forwards.

"Oh, don't be sad mum!" Pleaded Ginny, walking over to her side and crouching. But as Mrs Weasley removed her hands it became evident that she was in fact smiling.

"I'm horrified," She said, pushing her tears from her cheeks, "my son, Hermione and Harry trapped in a place of that malevolence?"

"Then… why are you smiling?" Asked George in a slightly confused tone.

"Because," she said standing, "even though I feel absolutely horrified of the circumstances – the fact that he is possibly alive is enough for me to be celebrating… hope is a miraculous thing…" She sniffed and turned to face Harry.

"You're just as handsome as when I last saw you," she said, choked with emotion, a kind smile sneaking across her face. "Why are you standing?" Mrs. Weasley asked, "please sit down Harry, I want to hear everything… absolutely everything… I can't believe it, I honestly can't believe it." A fresh tear streaked down her cheek, she stood away from him – as if admiring a piece of artwork.

"It's so good to see you," Harry finally replied.

"You're skin and bones," Mrs. Weasley said observantly, poking him in the ribs.

"Er… yeah, I am," he muttered, looking down at his weak frame.

"Let me fix you something," she said, "Harry…" she muttered as if testing the word on her tongue, "Harry…" And with that she left the room. George raised his eyebrows as soon as he was sure his mother couldn't hear,

"Well… that could've gone a bit better," he stated.

"She responded better than Ginny did," Harry thought aloud, "didn't try to slit my throat with my own sword." He felt Ginny shift her weight uncomfortably next to him,

"I didn't…" she began, "I just – I didn't…" Harry looked at her, she was stumbling over an apology and all he could think about was pulling her close to him…

"It's fine," he muttered quietly. "I forgive you," Ginny looked up into his emerald eyes and smiled weakly.

George cleared his throat, as if to remind them of his existence then immediately shot a question at Harry,

"Okay, what happened to your face?" Harry sat next to George and retold the story, sure to fit in the riddles that had confused him so much. He paid special attention to George's face as he said them, to see if there was any hint of recognition or understanding – but he just frowned, he was as confused as Harry was.

"Wow," he said, when Harry had finished. "She kissed you and now… wow. That must've been some kiss!" He nudged Harry, who smirked slightly.

"But, the riddles…" he began, wanting to get to the point.

"To be honest," George said, leaning back and putting his feet on the coffee table in front of him. "I always thought that Minister was a bit loony – brilliant, yeah – but loony… I don't think _she _even knew what she was saying." Harry frowned and nodded, but his mind still whirred over the two riddles. What if he did leave a trail behind him? What if the Death Eater's were following him? He sighed impatiently. It didn't seem to worry the others as much as it worried him… Harry assumed it was because they didn't feel the cold weight of fear that ran down the back of his neck and settled in his stomach every time he thought of Vereor Nex or the Death Eaters catching him.

Harry considered mentioning the riddles again, but he was forced not to by the re-entrance of Mrs. Weasley – now floating several large plates of food in front of her. Harry smiled at the familiarity of this one act, and almost felt like he was at the Burrow again.

"Arthur will be home later tonight, I assume you're staying?" She asked,

"Best to be safe," George stated to Harry with a serious expression, Harry nodded in response. Mrs. Weasley pushed George's feet off the coffee table and lowered the plates onto it.

"I won't be staying," said Ginny matter-of-factly, settling herself onto the floor, her legs crossed.

"What? Why not?" George asked, surprised.

"Because… I have an apartment George! And Jack will be wondering where I am," Harry took a glance at Ginny at the sound of Jack's name, but she didn't respond.

"Jack already knows where you are Gin," George stated casually, grabbing a plate from the table. "He helped make the arrangements and everything," Ginny frowned for a moment, then shook her head.

"That might've been the case – but I'm not staying here, just you know – owl me if you need me."

"Yeah, if we get attacked by Death Eater's I'm sure we'll have the time to owl you before we're killed." George stated his voice laced with sarcasm, Mrs Weasley shot him a look.

"Don't even joke about that George," she muttered, taking a seat next to Harry.

"Yeah, right – sorry mum," he muttered.

Harry spent the next hour filling Mrs. Weasley in on everything that had been going on since he had been back. She had pressed things about what Vereor Nex was like, and how he escaped but he refused to answer. George and Ginny had remained quiet as he explained, only sometimes cutting over him to state their side of the story. When he had finished, all the plates were empty and they were all quiet – as if mulling things over in their minds. Mrs. Weasley was crying silent tears beside Harry, out of sadness or happiness he wasn't sure – but he placed his arm around her and she looked up, a grateful smile pressed on her lips. Harry could feel eyes on him and he glanced up to see Ginny staring at him, eyebrows furrowed and eyes glazed – as if she was in another world altogether. Harry's eye contact seemed to break her from her daze however, and she soon cleared her throat and looked away, her cheeks burning scarlet.

Suddenly the door opened and a man was seen entering the room, his baldhead glinting in the soft light – his spectacled eyes pressed deep in a book. Mr. Weasley didn't even glance up as he walked in,

"Sorry I'm late home," he stated, removing his coat and placing it on a hanger near the door. "They called a meeting late-notice… something about the Dark Mark…" he shrugged for a moment. "Oh Molly, I really need to retire," he rubbed his eyes, pushing his glasses askew as he did so. Mrs. Weasley stood from the couch, her hands rested in front of her,

"Welcome home dear," she took a quick glance back at Harry and then swallowed. "You may notice we have guests?"

"Oh?" Mr. Weasley queried, his head finally looking up from the book to look around the room. "Ah! George, Ginny – great to see both of you, I hope you're staying?"

"I'm not," stated Ginny, standing with resolution and looking at a watch on her wrist. "In fact I should be going, sorry dad… I'll be back in the morning," she walked over to her father and pecked his cheek. "Great to see you," she took a quick glance back at Harry and disappeared through the front door – leaving a stark absence behind.

"Shame…" Mr. Weasley stated, taking his glasses off and wiping them on his coat.

"Arthur, we have another guest…" Mrs. Weasley pressed, slightly impatiently.

"Hm?" He asked, placing his glasses back on and walking into the room. "Ah!" He said, extending his hand, "welcome to our home!" He smiled brightly. Harry stood from the couch and took his hand – looking into the face of Mr. Weasley, whose wrinkles were deeper than he remembered them being – and whose little hair was now almost completely silver in colouring. Mr. Weasley all of a sudden frowned for a moment, squinting at Harry's face. George sighed as if annoyed,

"Dad, Harry Potter is alive, this is him, he was in Vereor Nex and now he isn't – Hermione and Ron are possibly still alive and the day after tomorrow we are leaving to go save them!" He said this in one long breath, but the words took a few moments to sink in. Harry felt the grip of Mr. Weasley's hand slacken,

"Oh…" he said, his eyebrows meeting, and then he fainted.

* * *

_A long chapter for you all_

_Hope you enjoyed this one, reactions are really hard to write… that's why I found this chapter so challenging. Mmhm. _

_Let me know what you thought, every review is really really very much appreciated._

_How annoying was that glitch thing? It lasted forever... that's why this chapter took longer than usual_

_Oh, and in the next chapter - you'll find out what exactly happened the day they were taken. Yeppers. _

_Pheonixxsong_


	13. The day they were taken

**CHAPTER 13**

**The day they were taken**

"George!" Shouted Mrs. Weasley, "are you insane? You can't just drop it on someone like that!"

"Sorry mum, but I wonder how many times I'm going to have to repeat it… maybe I can just write on Harry's head 'I'm Harry Potter!' Might be worth it..." Harry laughed as Mrs. Weasley bent down to Mr. Weasley's side.

"Arthur?" She queried, tapping his cheeks, "…Arthur? Are you okay?"

"I'll go get some water," George said, standing and walking towards the kitchen.

"Sorry," Harry muttered,

"It wasn't your fault dear – it was George's," she replied pointedly. "_That boy…" _she mumbled under her breath just as George returned with the water. Harry saw that Mr. Weasley's eyes were moving under his eyelids and they slowly appeared to be opening.

"That's it," Mrs. Weasley encouraged, "come on Arthur." Mr. Weasley's eyes flew open and darted around the room for a moment.

"What happened?" He queried, rubbing the back of his head, feeling the sore spot where he had landed.

"You fainted," muttered George, thrusting the glass of water into his hands. Mr. Weasley frowned for a moment, then his eyes bulged – suddenly remembering. He sat up so suddenly that he had to close his eyes for a moment – as if the world was spinning all around him; he then stared at Harry, mouth agape. Harry smiled for a moment, and offered Mr. Weasley his hand, which he took gratefully, coming to a standing position.

"Harry!... how?" He said, pulling him into an embrace. George sighed impatiently,

"Mum, can you fill him in? I'm absolutely wrecked, and I'm gathering Harry is too – we've had a really long day…" Harry felt rude leaving a teary-eyed Arthur to go to sleep, but his eyes stung with tiredness, his body heavy – he longed for a bed. As they ascended the stairs Harry heard Mr. Weasley's give of a yelp of happiness, followed by a choked up,

"Oh Molly!" And a happy, relieved laugh, Harry smiled quietly to himself. As they reached the next level, Harry took a moment to glance around at the houses interior. It had a warm feeling to it – the carpet was a soft maroon and the walls were dark, wooden and strong. George led Harry down the hall and to the last room on the right. It was filled with three beds, each identical,

"I want you to stay in the same room as me," muttered George, "your face might be healed but I still don't trust that wound on your chest… how is it feeling?"

"Better," Harry said truthfully, "it still stings, but it's better." George nodded and indicated for Harry to sit, he obeyed. George then removed all the bandages again, and tilted his head, regarding the wounds severity.

"Wow, Ginny can work wonders," he smirked. Harry looked down, the flesh now met without a gaping hole between the two sides. Although it still looked red and painful, it was a serious improvement.

"Let me know if it opens again, but I think you can go without the bandages now." George sat on the bed opposite Harry, his hands between his knees. "This has all happened so quickly," he said in monotone, frowning at something Harry couldn't see. At first Harry thought he was talking about his wound healing – but the look in his eyes told him that George wasn't talking about that.

"I know."

"It hasn't been the same," he muttered, running his hand over his face – Harry could see that what he was saying was truth, and painful to admit. "When you said Ginny had changed… It made me sad, because it's true. I wanted to protect her from grief… I'm her big brother, you know? I might have been a pain in the behind, but I never ever wanted to see her lose so much – and for her to change because of it." George shut his eyes, and a single tear slid down his cheek.

"Then again, that's a little hypocritical," he muttered. "I know that if Fred were here…" George gave a short, tight breathe. "If Fred were here, he'd be putting me back in line – pointing out what a royal git I've become."

"You're not," Harry said firmly. George sniffed and rubbed his eyes, suddenly embarrassed by what he had said, and that he had for once shown a weak side to himself.

"Sorry," he said with a small laugh, he shifted uncomfortably "so, day after tomorrow huh? … we need to run through a plan – but tomorrow when Gin is here, I'm wrecked." George stated, and laid back on the bed – staring at the ceiling. Harry took this as an indication that the conversation was over and sighed, pushing himself under the covers, falling into a deep sleep as soon as his eyes closed.

* * *

_Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting outside the Burrow. The weather was almost perfect, the blue sky covered in only a white froth of cloud. Ron was leaning back in his chair with his wand behind his ear; he pushed on the table with his feet, the chair making a metallic sound against the ground as he rocked. _

"_You're going to die," Hermione said to Ron, "you're probably going to fall off that thing and impale yourself on something." Hermione was pouring over a large volume of some kind. Occasionally she would read a passage with exuberance, not noticing that neither Harry nor Ron was paying any attention to what she was saying. _

"_Yes mum, sorry mum," Ron replied, continuing to push himself backwards and forwards in his chair. Suddenly he let out a small laugh, "wouldn't that be funny though? I survive the battle against Voldemort, only to die from rocking on the back of my chair." _

"_More tragic," Hermione stated._

_Harry was paying only little attention to what was happening around the table; his concentration was instead drawn to the Burrow, where he could see Ginny walking in between the rooms. He saw Ginny stop in the kitchen, leaning against the counter. Casually, her eyes flicked to Harry's, as if she had known all along that he was looking at her. Ginny offered him a charming smile and Harry returned it, feeling his heart move up into his throat. _

"_You should just ask her out again, you know," Hermione said, breaking Harry from his daze._

"_What?" He asked. Hermione raised her eyebrows, hand resting on her overly-large book. _

"_You've been avoiding it ever since Voldemort died." Harry didn't answer, and when he looked back at the Burrow Ginny had disappeared from the window. "I mean, you could cut the tension between you two with a knife… all you've been doing this whole time is duelling with your swords and flirting like crazy."_

"_Can we please not talk about my sister and my best friend's relationship while I'm at the table?" Ron asked pleadingly, "it's kind of disturbing." _

"_I'm just saying that's all," muttered Hermione with a small smile. Harry shrugged, his sword sat in front of him – he removed it from its sheath. He was remembering the training session he and Ginny had had on a hilltop by the Burrow that morning._

_

* * *

_

"Not getting tired are you Gin?" He had muttered, she grinned at him, tossing her own sword hand to hand as a brisk wind rushed over them.

"You wish," she replied. She lunched forward, piercing the air with the blade, he knocked her sword away but she caught it with her left hand. Harry laughed, twirling his sword either side of him, Ginny threw her sword through his and they both fell to the ground with a clatter.

"Now see, what are we going to do now? Imagine I was a Death Eater, you would be dead right now, I have another weapon," he pulled his wand from his pocket, "Accio Sword!" He muttered, and the sword flew into his hand.

"But your not a Death Eater," she said, withdrawing her wand, "Expelliramus!" Harry's wand fell from his hand and flew down the grassy slope. Harry walked up to her,

"Neither are you," he jested, a grin spread across his features. Ginny dropped her wand to her side, looking up at him, Harry ran his hands down her ribs and to small of her back, Ginny dropped her wand, wrapping her arms around his waist,

"A Death Eater wouldn't do that," she whispered as he gently pushed her chin up,

"It's lucky I'm not then," he lowered his face to hers, and with that, their lips met. She parted her lips, pulling him closer towards her,

"Draw your sword," he whispered into her,

"Later," she said back, wrapping her arms around his neck.

* * *

_Harry had been so intent on reliving this memory that he almost didn't hear Ron mutter, "speak of the devil." Ginny was strolling across the yard, arms folded casually in front of her. She immediately walked around to Ron's chair and pushed it back onto four legs. Ron let out an angry grumble which sounded like "women…" _

_Ginny pulled a chair up between Ron and Harry and jumped into it, her legs crossed. _

"_How's George?" Asked Hermione immediately with a small concerned frown etched on her face._

"_He apparated out about an hour ago, said he was going to make some more produce," Ginny sighed, "he really isn't the same." The table was met with a deep silence as they remembered Fred. Harry hadn't been able to say two words to George since the battle. Mrs. Weasley had insisted he remain at the Burrow for a few weeks, and he grudgingly agreed, although he mostly remained in his room by himself, refusing all visitors. Mrs. Weasley even seemed to be missing the occasional sound of an explosion coming out of that room as Fred and George experimented with different products. Harry had seen her tap on his room a couple of times to ask if he was alright, placing her ear to the door to try and hear any movement or sign of life from within. _

_The Burrow, usually so full of boisterous noise now felt as if __Muffliato had been cast on it. __The quiet of the household was more awkward and obvious than any noise Harry had ever heard. Suddenly Ginny turned her head, like she had heard something behind her,_

"_What is it?" Harry asked, she raised her hand to quieten him, her eyebrows furrowed. _

"_Do you hear that?" She whispered. Everyone went silent, trying to listen to any possible noise that echoed through the yard. All Harry heard was the slight rustle of the trees as the wind ran through them. But then, slowly, he heard what Ginny was talking about, and it sent a shiver down his spine. There was a faint breathing sound that he had to strain to hear; the breathing did not get lighter or heavier, it was as if someone was watching their every move. His body went into alert and he clutched the hilt of his sword, his eyes darted around the yard. _

"_I don't hear anythi –,"_

"_Ron, shut up!" Ginny warned in an urgent whisper. Ginny and Harry looked at each other for a moment with concerned eyes. Slowly, Harry stood and pulled his wand out of his pocket, with his hand still on the hilt of his sword, and started stalking the yard. Harry felt the others behind him doing the same. All of a sudden a small figure jumped out from behind a bush, Harry reacted on instinct and quickly sent a stunning spell in its direction. _

_The spell hit, and the figure collapsed to the ground. However to much anti-climatic dismay Harry realised that he had officially stunned a gnome, who lay on its little back, it's small ugly face filled with shock. Everyone had come running apprehensively to his side at the sound of Harry's spell, only to stop in their tracks beside him – pocketing their wands and silently laughing out of sheer relief. After a moment, Ron clapped Harry on the back,_

"_Good on you, you stopped the enemy from attacking us." Harry snorted,_

"_Well, best to be careful anyway," Ginny muttered, pushing her hair off her shoulder. Everyone pocketed their wands as Harry's heartbeat slowed to a steady rhythm; everyone had been on edge since the battle, the protective charms no longer sat as a boundary, and there were reports of a mass Death Eater break-out from Azkaban. _

_Harry sighed and resolved to return to his chair, his eyes unfocused; but suddenly he heard Ginny scream in a way that curdled his blood and sent sparks of fear and adrenalin surging through him. _

_He felt a spell run very close past him and he turned to find the source of it. Two cloaked Death Eaters stood not nearly ten yards away from him, one of them had a hand pressed against Ginny's mouth, the other had his wand pointed at Harry's chest. Ron and Hermione lay stunned at their feet; clearly they were unable to defend themselves – having only just pocketed their wands. _

_Harry was only able to look at the perpetrators for a split-second before he jumped to the ground to dodge another stunning spell, the soft ground staining his knees. He turned around only to see four other Death Eater's circling him, their wands raised. Whatever they were doing, it was becoming evident that they weren't out to kill him. He reached for his wand as a clog rose in his throat. Another stunning spell was sent after him – he rolled and aimed his wand at the closest Death Eater. _

"_Stupefy!" He yelled, it hit the Death Eater who wasn't holding Ginny, and he fell to the ground with a muffled thump. _

"_That wasn't very nice Potter," the other one jeered as he put a hand around Ginny's neck, as if using her as a shield – Ginny let off a frightened squeak. _

"_Let go of her!" He yelled, raising his wand. _

_Harry swore he saw an evil grin on the mouth of the Death Eater, despite the fact his face was cloaked. Harry moved towards him, wand still cautiously rose, desperate to pry Ginny away from the man. Ginny was warning him to stay away with her eyes, but he didn't pay any attention to it. The thought of anything happening to Ginny, Ron or Hermione made a wave of grief rip through him… he couldn't… he wouldn't let it happen. The Death Eater was pushing his wand so hard into Ginny's exposed neck that she couldn't even fight to get away. _

"_The war is over," Harry was saying, trying to keep his voice fearless. _

"_Oh Potter, it hasn't even begun." Harry felt the other Death Eaters closing in on him, panic rose in his throat._

_Ginny started fighting against the man who held her, but was unable to get away. Harry unconsciously ran towards them, he grabbed Ginny's arm and felt the Death Eater release her, focussing his attention to grabbing Harry instead. Harry pushed Ginny away as hard as he could, desperate to get her out of harms way. The other Death Eater's ran towards him, surrounding Harry and holding his limbs so that there was no way to fight back. _

_Suddenly, with a flick of one of the Death Eaters wands, Harry, Hermione, Ron and all Death Eaters were encapsulated by flamed. They licked at the sky and sent waves of heat thundering to Harry. They seemed to burn his skin and he yelled as the pain finally registered. Harry watched as one of the Death Eaters said a spell he did not recognise in a cruel whisper, and Ron's finger was ripped off. It fell to the ground at their feet, Harry watched in horror as his stump of a finger bled rapidly, the blood falling to the ground. Harry tried to move but he couldn't, instead he felt a violent wind ripping at the fire, making everything a dark crimson blur. He couldn't see anything else, everything seemed to be moving around him, all he could feel was a hot iron of pain, he yelled once more._

_

* * *

_

Harry awoke with a start, sweat was coating him, the memory of the day he was taken burned in his memory. Ginny was sitting on the bed, holding him still with her hands, his throat was parched and he knew that he had been screaming. The sun was only just rising outside the windows, casting a soft yellow across the room. Ginny removed her hands cautiously – Harry saw George also staring at him, his eyes full of concern.

"Are you okay?" Ginny asked, Harry nodded, swallowing – Hermione and Ron's faces burned in his memory, "what were you dreaming?"

"The day we were taken," he said solemnly. Ginny slowly nodded in understanding,

"I have that nightmare sometimes," she said, "right up to the point where my parents ran out as they heard you scream." Harry nodded, not really paying attention, all he felt was desperation and fear clawing at him – was it too late?

* * *

_One of you asked me to update before Friday – for asking so nicely this is my gift to you haha. Good luck with your assignment week – I have to say that sounds just awful! _

_Although I'm now very behind in my writing, so you're going to have to wait longer for the next chapter, sorry! _

_I hope you liked this instalment and that it cleared some stuff up _

_Thankyou so much for all your support thus far, it's all you guys who keep me writing :) _

_Pheonixxsong _


	14. Planning

**CHAPTER 14**

**Planning **

"What do you mean you don't know directions?" Asked Ginny. They were sitting on the floor, plans spread out before them with various charms and potions that would assist them on their journey written on them. Ginny had just asked Harry what directions he would have to take to get to Vereor Nex, and had been somewhat surprised when he was unable to give him a step-by-step manual on how to get there. Harry sighed angrily,

"I'm going to try my best to recall what directions I took, but I was delusional and dehydrated half the time I was walking!" Ginny grabbed a few sheets of parchment in the air and waved it around is if making a point whilst she spoke,

"So, we could end up in freaking Australia, because you have no idea where we're going."

"Ginny!" Harry yelled crossly, "I may not know to every detail and turn, but as I said, I know it's in the North-Easterly direction, and I'm sure I'll recognise things as we're walking. Just lay off!" Harry noticed her clench her jaw; she dropped the parchment and rested her chin on a closed fist.

"I'm doing it again, aren't I?" She muttered,

"Being weird?" Harry asked, "yes." Ginny smirked slightly,

"Being a control freak runs through the blood of the Weasley women," George jested. He was sitting on the couch, the ankle of his right leg resting on the knee of the other.

"Alright, so," Ginny began, trying to change the topic. "We're probably going to need Polyjuice Potion." She sighed, "I have some, maybe good enough for four or five people – but we may need more. We also have quite a deal of Veritesirum left…" She cast Harry a sideways look as she said it.

"Potions are important, yeah," said George with a furrowed brow, "but what we're really going to have to consider is how we're going to infiltrate Vereor Nex when we finally come to it…"

"It's going to be virtually impossible," stated Harry.

"Well we could use the invisibility cloak," muttered George offhandedly.

"…My invisibility cloak?"

"Oh," said George, "yeah, Ginny has it." Harry had completely forgotten about his cloak until that moment; and now that he remembered it he sorely missed it.

"The cloak can barely cover all three of us let alone all the Aurors who are coming," stated Harry.

"Disillusion charms?" Offered George,

"Maybe, but they probably have protective spells against that around the perimeter," replied Ginny. The three of them frowned, considering their options.

"You have the element of surprise," said Mr. Weasley, walking into the room, he was once again reading, his glasses bobbing on his nose as he talked,

"You know dad, eavesdropping is bad," said George, Mr. Weasley ignored him and continued,

"There is no reason to render you all invisible." They all stared at him blankly, protests hung in the air. "Look," he said, taking off his glasses, "Death Eaters are stupid but they aren't that stupid – even with the invisibility cloak it will be painfully obvious that someone has breeched the boundaries… like when they set those Caterwauling Charms over Hogsmeade."

Harry had to admit this was true, although he had not heard any alarms go off as he escaped – the Death Eaters knew as soon as Ron, Hermione and his feet touched the ground that someone had attempted to run away. This thought crossed Harry's mind before he could stop it, and immediately, as if desperate to be remembered, the memory of escaping was flung into his mind. He saw hands gripping on earth and tree, spells being shot, the haunted… pleading eyes of Ron and Hermione, the begging.

"Harry?" He heard George say, "you still with us?"

"Hm?" He replied, shaking his head slightly and realising he had missed out on the rest of what Mr. Weasley was saying, "sorry, what was that?" Mr. Weasley smiled warmly at Harry for a moment.

"I was just asking whether when you were escaping and you looked back at Vereor Nex… if you could see it."

"I didn't look back," he muttered, Harry could still feel the tightness in his chest, his limbs falling underneath him, almost unable to support his weight. He had run until he literally couldn't run anymore. "Why?"

"Well, it's possible that it will be extremely hard to find again. Not only because of the navigation issue, but because I am almost certain they would have placed charms around it, so that it is invisible to everyone else – you need to know where it is to find it."

"Of course," said Ginny, slapping her forehead. She made a note on the parchment. "Well, Jack knows a few charms that might work on deflecting those," she muttered quietly to herself.

"Is Jack coming?" Asked George,

"Of course he is!" Said Ginny, with an indignant look on her face, "not just because he's my partner but he's also an Auror – he would be involved anyway." Harry swallowed, he admitted guiltily to himself that he was actually looking forward to having quality time with Ginny without Jack around. But he knew this wouldn't be the case, and _shouldn't _be the case for that matter. Ginny was Jack's now, not his – he had to keep telling himself that.

"Yeah I figured as such, no need to get defensive."

"Sorry." George frowned at Ginny's apology,

"…No problem, how's captain handsome reacting to this whole 'Harry Potter is alive,' thing anyway?" Ginny responded as if she didn't hear him, and instead focussed her attention on her father.

"Getting back to the point," Mr. Weasley was saying, now standing directly in front of them all. "There is a reason no one has been able to find Vereor Nex… why it is now considered a myth – because no one can _find _it. No one ever has, or otherwise has ever lived to tell the tale…" he nodded,

"Have the Ministry tried?" Asked Harry, who had never heard of the place before he was taken there.

"Oh of course!" Said Mr. Weasley, sitting down on the couch and resting the notes he was reading over on the floor. "Years ago, but their efforts never yielded any results so they soon gave up – said it was a myth and left it at that."

"Well as far as I'm concerned the most important thing for us to do is to get all the prisoners out and safe," Ginny muttered, then sighed, "but there could be any number of them… we don't know. There's just so much we don't know…" She sighed impatiently then quickly glanced at the papers Mr. Weasley had left on the ground. She frowned and picked them up,

"I received a memo about this," she titled her head, "the Dark Mark's appearance, why are you still reading over it?"

"There's just something … odd about it. I'm probably stressing I don't know."

"What's odd about it? Jack said it was pretty much an open and shut case."

"Well the Ministry suspects it was just an accidental spell casting – someone playing a practical joke… but whoever it was, they were overage."

"Adults don't make mistakes?"

"…No, I don't mean that," he said with a small laugh and a shake of his head, "I just mean if someone were to do it as a practical joke it would generally be a kid who had been dared or something." He shrugged, "also they did a double check around with the neighbours – and one of them pointed out that they had heard screaming from next door and had called the muggle police. Only when they arrived the man who was apparently screaming appeared perfectly fine – and then there was the Dark Marks appearance… It just seems odd, like we're missing something."

"Oh…" muttered Ginny, glancing back at the parchment as if she now saw it in a new light. Mr. Weasley saw her interest and was quick to take it off her,

"I know you have duties as an Auror Ginny, but you have more pressing matters at hand at the moment, I'll let you know if we discover anything."

"_Arthur!" _Came a call from the other room, Mr. Weasley smiled in departure and walked swiftly to where Mrs. Weasley's voice had been heard. Everything was getting frustratingly confusing for Harry, the riddles, the clues and the odd happenings… it was as if the world was playing a massive joke on him. Like it was batting him around to see what would make him tick, make him give up. With every possibility he considered for each of these things, the more annoyed he became that the answer didn't just present itself fully formed in front of him. Harry glanced out of the houses window – a bright light shone through the trees outside the window, creating dappled lights on the carpet. He became lost in the scenery, his eyes unfixed, his mind searching through potential explanations.

Suddenly, in such an instantaneous way that Harry assumed he had made the image appear from his own thoughts – he spotted a dark figure beyond the boundaries of the yard – staring at the house with cold and deadly eyes. Harry looked at it, his heart jumping as he realised that the figure almost appeared to be staring directly at him. He clenched his teeth, wanting to cry out and yet so certain that it was a figment of his imagination.

"Someone is off with the fairies today," laughed George, clicking his fingers as if trying to get Harry's attention, "come on Potter we need to think." Harry turned back to George, his mouth slightly agape, trying to comprehend what he had seen; he looked out the window again to find the figure had disappeared – swallowed by the garden.

"What is it Harry?" Asked Ginny, seeing his bewildered face.

"I thought I saw something," he said, frowning, "I guess I was wrong…" Harry assumed that his fears of being watched were perhaps getting to him. The figure in the garden must have been his mind playing tricks on him… but even as he, George and Ginny resumed their conversation – he could not help it that his eyes every so often darted to the window; both desperate and fearful to see it once more. The third time Harry did it Ginny had to ask,

"Harry, what is out there?" It carried an annoyed tone – probably because they had to keep repeating themselves every time he stared out the window. Harry couldn't see anything, and gave up, turning to Ginny,

"Sorry, just weird feeling."

"The weird 'there's a Death Eater watching us,' feeling?" Ginny squinted out the window,

"Yeah but I constantly have that feeling… ever since what the Minister said – got me thinking."

"I told you," said George, following Ginny's gaze, "the Minister is nuts… talk of those two people – Hector and Gregory?"

"Hansel and Gretel," Ginny corrected, she said it in such a Hermione-like tone that it made Harry recoil for a second.

"Well… yeah, who the hell are they?" Snorted George.

"Muggle story, two kids lost in the woods, leave a trail to find their way home…" Ginny responded almost immediately – her eyes not peeling from the window.

"…_how do you know that?" _George and Harry said in unison, Ginny looked up and laughed,

"Muriel once gave me a book of them for my birthday," and her eyes went back to the window.

"Look, Gin, I'm sure it's nothing – we should get back to –," Harry began,

"I think there is someone out there," whispered Ginny suddenly. She silently moved to the window ledge, her eyes focussing on one location in the garden. Harry knew better than to question her judgement and so kept quiet. Ginny slowly wound open the window, just enough to fit her wand through. With expert precision she muttered, '_Stupefy,' _sending a jet of light towards the garden. Harry waited, and distinctly heard a muffled thump from outside just as Mrs. Weasley walked into the room, speaking as she walked.

"I was just telling Arthur that Charlie is coming back to…" she stopped walking suddenly and frowned, looking at Ginny crouching by the window. Ginny's eyes widened suddenly,

"Oops…" she muttered – a false innocence stealing its way over her usually hard features, she lowered her wand guiltily. George laughed loudly, clutching his sides as he realised what had happened.

"Yeah, welcome back Charlie!" He said through gasps. If looks could kill Ginny would have dropped dead that instant. Mrs. Weasley ran out of the room, through the front door and into the garden. Harry, Ginny and George followed – George still cackling away at his brother's expense. They got to Bill's side – his burnt face appeared peaceful – as if he was sleeping.

"Ginny for goodness sake – _look _before you shoot. Don't just fly spells off at anything that moves!"

"I'm sorry mum!" She said with a sincere apologetic voice. "But it was only a stunning spell… he'll be okay."

"Woah, what's going on here?" Came a voice from behind them, they all spun around. Jack was standing on the lawn, his hands in his pockets – looking at Bill's stunned form with curiousity. "Your work babe?" He asked Ginny, with slight amusement. Ginny frowned in response and walked over to him,

"How'd you…" she began, but then finished her sentence with a peck on the lips in welcome.

"I apparated in just a few seconds ago," he replied with a small shrug, "figured you needed the help." Jack didn't seem to notice the icy look he was getting from Harry. Harry couldn't help himself, every time Jack and Ginny's lips met, every time they held hands or embraced it was like a punch in the guts… and all Harry wanted to do was punch back.

* * *

_Ah man I've had such a hell of a week. With a few 5am starts and late finishes … plus I broke my nose – it hurt! (I did a front flip and landed badly, but luckily it's the break you can't see… asides from the bruising) Oh, and I have so many books to read! Mostly by authors I really don't like the writing style of - so very very hard to get through. _

_So I'm sorry for the wait – it seems like I'm going to be doing the old 'posting as soon as I write' thing again. _

_Thankyou so much for the reviews I've been getting, they make me very happy! :) _

_And shh, my last chapter's title was totally original haha! _

_Pheonixxsong _


	15. Preparation

**CHAPTER 15**

**Preparation **

"I'm so so sorry," Ginny was saying to Charlie as he lied on the couch, a cold washcloth held to his temple where a bruise had appeared. On becoming stunned by Ginny he had fallen heavily, hitting his head on a sharp stone.

"As I keep saying Ginny, _stop apologising_. I train dragons for a living, this is hardly a serious injury… although it was quite a surprise welcome." George started chuckling again beside Harry, but put his fist in his mouth when he received an angry look from his mother. "It is nice to see everyone again," he stated happily, his eyes resting mainly on Harry. They had filled Charlie in on the 'Harry scenario' as soon as he regained consciousness. He reacted in a way very differently from any other member of the Weasley family. He had merely frowned for a moment, as if deciding whether it was credible then smirked, folding his arms and staring Harry dead in the eye.

Charlie took the washcloth away and gave it to Mrs. Weasley,

"It was a bit touch and go there," he said sarcastically, "but I think I'll live." He stretched his arms above his head; a burn that stretched down his arm glinted in the light. "You know, if you need a fast way to get to Vereor Nex I could always lend you a few trained dragons," he stated with a smirk.

"…Yeah nothing says stealth like massive flying reptiles," replied George, raising his eyebrows in scepticism.

"Well whether you use dragons or not, I'm coming with you," he stated – the way in which he said it caused the others in the room not to protest. "Besides," he said, "I have a break off work and you could be attacked by some horrible beasty whilst your away."

"Geez, don't sound hopeful or anything," replied Ginny, a smile playing on her lips.

"Where did Jack go?" Charlie asked suddenly, as if only just recognising his disappearance, Mrs. Weasley answered.

"Oh, he took off – had to go back to work. Not to worry, I'm sure Ginny will fill him in on everything when she goes home." Charlie nodded in response, but Harry's eyes were instead drawn to Ginny – he wondered if he was the only one who had seen the slight tightening of her jaw and her adverted gaze, he frowned, wondering what it meant. As if she could feel his eyes on her she glanced up for a moment, staring directly into his eyes and then adverted her gaze to listen to the conversation being held.

"So," Charlie stated, "I need to know… when you left – how were Ron and Hermione?" The question was directed at Harry, and although he knew no one could answer but him, he wished someone would step in and say something to avert the conversation to different matters. He shifted uncomfortably, and looked up at Mr. and Mrs. Weasley – who held expressions of high interest and almost happiness, he swallowed.

"They," he began, feeling a clog rise up in his throat, "they were alive," he stated firmly. '_But for how long?'_ Ask the guilt-bearing voice in his head. Charlie frowned for a moment, then nodded – Harry could see that Charlie sensed his uncomfortableness on the topic, (especially in front of Ron's parents,) – and offered a weak, understanding smile.

Harry was feeling again, the overbearing regret and guilt, it was like a kick in the gut. By now, he knew, if they were still alive they would be imagining he had forgotten about them. Every moment he spent in this place of warmth and comfort, they were in Vereor Nex suffering unendurable torment. Before Harry could stop it; a tear slid down his cheek – he pushed it away hoping no one had noticed.

"Harry and I need to go to the Ministry, finalise a few details… let the Aurors know what's happening, that sort of thing – we'll be back in a few hours." Stated Ginny, standing. Her eyes met Harry's, they urged him to follow her without protest. He frowned and stood, with a nod to the others, then followed Ginny out the door. As they walked across the garden Ginny talked,

"What's up with you?"

"How do you mean?"

"Harry, we're not stupid – we know Hermione and Ron would not be in a good way, we know that they'd be the same… or worse than you were when you came back… so what's up with the avoiding?"

"Avoiding?"

"Like you don't know, every time Hermione and Ron are mentioned, or the day you escaped for that matter – you disappear inside yourself for a few minutes and you get this awful… haunted look on your face. Why?" Ginny's eyes were for once not filled with anger or frustration, but with a sincere understanding. They had reached the other side of the garden now, and stood beside a few trees – Harry could only just see the window he was looking out of only moments before.

"Harry please; what's going on?" Harry grit his teeth and shut his eyes for a moment,

"When I left –," he began, then stopped.

"Go on…"

"We made two minutes," whispered Harry, the wind ran through the trees – making them hiss.

"_Harry_!" The words echoed off his mind, he saw Ron's hand reaching forward as the body was dragged backwards, his eyes widened in fear and he scratched his nails into the dry earth, making his hands dark and red. Hermione was clutching to a tree with the last ounce of energy she had left, she looked up at Harry was dark pleading eyes as he turned to run away, their last hope of survival, and their last chance of ever getting out of there. Hermione was wedged away from the tree, her fingernails cutting into the bark, hands bleeding, her mouth forming over Harry's name even though only a fearful whimper came out.

"You made two minutes? What do you mean?"

"Until they caught us… we were weak… we had barely moved for so long…" he was going to continue but the tree beside him caught his eye, "the figure I saw…" he said, frowning, "was standing right here," his eyes darted around the trees where they stood. Ginny let of a sigh of annoyance,

"Did anyone tell you that you are _ridiculously _easily distracted?"

"… then Jack came," he continued, ignoring her.

"You're not suggesting that the supposed figure you saw was Jack, are you?"

"It kind of makes sense."

"Uh, no it doesn't – not in the slightest. Why would he be watching us?"

"I have no idea."

"It wasn't him…" she stated firmly, "he's a really nice guy Harry, you'd like him if you get to know him."

"Doubt it," he muttered under his breath. "So are we actually going to the Ministry?" Queried Harry, Ginny sighed,

"Yeah, Jack was telling me that preparations are underway and that we should go down to see what's happening… so, shall we?" She asked, extending her hand.

"This is new…"

"Turning over a new leaf… or something," she said with a shrug. Harry smirked for a moment and grabbed her hand; with a crack they disappeared, before they landed, once more, in the Ministry of Magic.

* * *

Even though Ginny had said that preparations were underway, Harry had not been prepared for the site that awaited him in the Ministry of Magic. The group of Aurors that had been elected to come with them had taken refuge in a large room near the back of the Ministry. The room had no windows, and only bright prison-like spotlights shining from each corner. The Aurors were all in separate discussions, although all their voices carried the same sense of urgency and authority. Harry heard his name mentioned a few times and a group of Auror heads looked up from their work. One man who Harry recognized as Gene Fillius from the Auror meeting walked up to them,

"Weasley, Potter," he said, nodding slightly in greeting.

"His name is James, remember?" Ginny warned,

"Oh, of course, my apologies. We're pretty much all set, we've used got several of the Ministries tents for sleeping in – food supplies – potions, the general protocol… is there anything you wanted in particular?" The proper way in which he spoke made Harry smirk slightly. Ginny seemed shocked by their organization,

"Oh, wow," she said. "Thanks Gene, I have a few potions and such I need to bring, but asides from that we're pretty much set it seems."

"Impressive," Harry muttered, regarding the room.

"Thankyou sir," Gene replied, causing Harry to smirk again. Another Auror came up to Ginny,

"All we need to know is co-ordinates," he was muttering. He raised his eyebrows in expectation. Ginny shifted slightly,

"We don't exactly – _have _co-ordinates." The man who has asked the question frowned a little – and a few Auror's looked up unbelievingly.

"What exactly are we supposed to do for navigational purposes then?" The man asked, still frowning.

"James here will be navigating, he remembers the way…"

"Of course…" the man said, although his voice was laced with skepticism, Ginny ignored it.

"James! Ginny!" Came a voice from the other side of the room. Jack strolled over, smiling at both of them. "Impressive huh?"

"Yeah, James was just saying that it was…"

"We've put extendable charms on each of the bags, so that they are light and small… I've never seen it done before, it's quite ingenious." Jack was muttering with an almost boisterous excitement. It made Harry angry that he was so happy; it was almost inconsiderate to the task at hand.

"I have," he muttered, his voice almost coming as a growl, "Hermione used it whilst we were out defeati –,"

"So, what else do you have to show me?" Ginny asked, interrupting Harry.

"A few of them just wanted to ask you a few specific questions," Jack replied, "so, we'll be with you in a second James," Jack said, leading Ginny to the back corner of the room where a few Aurors stood patiently. As Ginny was leaving she shot Harry with a look that said 'behave.'

"Must suck," came a voice to Harry's right, he looked. A young man with a curly mass of hair was pushing large items into a small backpack.

"What must suck?" The boy smiled and stood,

"Jack and Ginny; must suck. I remember I once went to America for some mission, and when I came back I found my girlfriend with another man – it sucks right?" His voice carried a strong Australian accent.

"…That doesn't really apply to me," said Harry snapped a bit. The man raised his eyebrows in an almost amused expression,

"Whatever you say," he said. "But for the record, I don't like him,"

"Who?"

"Jack. He's too nice… and a really good fighter… and all women swoon on him," he said with a distasteful shake of his head.

"Wow, thanks for that… I feel so much better." The man laughed and extended his hand, Harry noticed that the top of the man's index finger was missing, that that white lines were hatched on his skin where scars had supposedly healed.

"My names Dylan," he said. Harry took his hand and nodded, "this'll be some journey, eh?"

"Yeah…" Harry replied, "sure will be."

* * *

_Hey hey, hope you enjoyed this chapter – let me know what you think! Thankyou so much for the reviews, these ones made me laugh. _

"_JACK IS EVIL!"_

"_I don't like Jack much." _

"_I just don't like Jack." _

_Ahh, amusing._

_I'm kinda bombarded with work at the moment, expect an update once a week, or once a fortnight. I tried to upload this sooner – but fanfiction was playing up on me… is it just me or is it doing it for everyone else too?_

_In the next installment their journey will be underway – horrah! _

_Phoenixxsong _


	16. Harry James Potter

**Harry James Potter**

They all stood outside Grimmauld Place, in the deserted suburban street. Harry was in the lead; staring at the hill he recalled stumbling down only a number of days ago. How his life had changed from that moment to this moment was astonishing. Although his face appeared healed, his messy hair still reached his shoulders – he made sure he had some against his scar, hiding it from view. His body had not changed much either; he still felt the sores and bruises when he moved. However, they were better, much better, than they were when he descended that hill – he had even gained weight and muscle in those few days… but the scars, he realised, would be eternal reminders of his time at Vereor Nex.

"Ready?" Came Ginny's voice to his left. Harry's hand moved over the sword in the belt of his jeans,

"Absolutely." He muttered. He could see Hermione and Ron's faces, waiting, '_I'll be there soon,' _he thought, as if his thoughts could carry across the miles _'I'm coming to get you.' _Harry took a few paces forwards and immediately heard the sound of several Aurors doing the same. George smiled at Harry encouragingly and followed close behind him with Jack and Charlie. They ascended the hill; some Aurors going onto all fours to stop slipping down its muddy surface. They had begun their journey. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had given George, Ginny, Harry and Jack tearful farewells – with a strong embrace and kind, hopeful words.

"_Bring them home," _Mrs. Weasley had said, _"Just bring them home…" _Harry had given her his word, and left the house, hoping that by the end of the trip he would not have broken his promise.

The walking had begun at a very quick pace, each individual focussing on the same goal. Everyone was keeping an eye out, not speaking, just walking. One Auror had heard something and shot around only to see a small lizard scurry under a rock. They were all on the edge, Harry could feel it prickling the hairs on the back of his neck like electricity as the same riddle ran through his head… only the wolves followed, he ran his hand absentmindedly through his hair.

"Quiet, huh?" He heard a voice say. Harry looked up to see Jack strolling along beside him; Ginny was several paces in front of them both – out of ear-range.

"Yeah," he replied, "on the look-out I suppose." Jack nodded and they walked in an awkward silence for a few moments. "So… you and Ginny huh?" Harry asked. Jack seemed to like this change of topic because he smiled cheerfully,

"Yeah, for quite a while now." Harry kicked at some dirt with his feet, "quite a shock I must say, finding out Ron and Hermione were alive."

"Know much about them?"

"Here and there, you know. She didn't talk to me about them for ages when I met her, but there was always something," he frowned slightly as if trying to choose the right words, "hidden about it all… then when she started telling me about Hogwarts and they began to be brought up more. Harry was the last of them,"

"How do you mean?" He asked curiously.

"Harry Potter, heard of him? Of course you have… _everybody _has." Harry frowned for a moment before it clicked… and when it did accusation stuck in his throat – Jack didn't know that he was Harry. It made sense now, why every time Harry mentioned his life before Vereor Nex Ginny would cut him off, or quickly change the subject. She hadn't told him, he clenched his teeth.

"Yes I've heard of him."

"Ginny dated him, did you know?" Jack said, almost with a hint of anger. Harry picked up on it and didn't reply. He was frustrated with Ginny, but if she hadn't told him it must be for a reason – he would give her a chance to explain herself later, for the moment, he must keep being James.

"No, I didn't."

"It's crazy… The boy who lived… more like the boy who was really damn lucky he didn't die!" He laughed.

"Well, he defeated Voldemort, that gives him points in my books… he couldn't have done that on luck alone," Harry replied, trying to keep the anger from his voice. He wondered what Jack's face would feel like under his fist… Harry stuck his hands in his pockets to avoid a scene.

"Yeah, perhaps… but it was mostly luck," Jack stated firmly, "he could produce a Patronus… so what? I can too," he removed his wand from his pocket, "_expecto patronum!_" He yelled. A crow flew out the tip of his wand and started soaring around them, "see?" Harry frowned at it for a moment before it disappeared, he decided not to respond – he could feel the arguments burning the base of his throat but he knew that it wasn't worth arguing over.

"I'm going to go talk to George," he muttered, distracting himself.

"Oh, okay…" said Jack, with a surprised look on his face, "talk later then James?"

"…Yeah, later." Harry muttered under his breath. He felt anger boiled inside him and he wondered if what Jack had just said was responsible – or if he just naturally hated the guy, maybe he just didn't _want_ to like him. Harry began strolling casually next to George, frowning at Ginny's back – still astounded that Jack had no idea he was Harry Potter. He went to say something to George but someone stopped him speaking with a strong grip on his arm. He came to an abrupt halt and turned to see who had stopped him, it was Dylan. His eyes were scouring the woods,

"Hear that?" Dylan muttered under his breath. Harry waited; the Aurors behind Harry had stopped in their tracks, listening.

"Hear what?" He asked after a few moments.

"I hear it," muttered George, pulling a wand out of his pocket, the other Auror's did the same. Harry put a fist around his sword and waited. The Aurors that had trailed ahead had now noticed the disappearance of the other members and had made their way back, all holding wands at the ready.

"_Show yourself!" _Harry yelled into the woods, their tall trunks blocking out most of the sun. Suddenly an Auror to his left fell, stunned – his wand inches from his fingertips. A few Aurors fired stunning spells in random directions, hoping to hear a comforting sound of a body falling to the ground, but none came.

"Are they invisible?" Came Jack's voice next to Harry.

"Not sure," he replied, his eyes jumping from tree to tree. The world was wrapped in silence for a moment, with only the sound of shifting branches and the occasional birdcall heard. Harry waited for a sound, a movement… he didn't have to wait long until several things seemed to happen at once. Harry saw a beam of light shoot at an Auror directly beside him; he jumped and tackled her to the ground – the spell hitting a tree behind them instead. Ginny, reacting on instinct had immediately thrown a spell from the light source and there was a distinctive sound of something falling onto the soft earth.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked the girl he had just pushed to the ground. He offered her his hand and she took it gratefully.

"I'm fine," she said, brushing away stray dirt from her robes. "Thanks for that," she said, Harry shrugged one shoulder,

"It's no problem." He watched as Ginny and two other Auror's emerged from the woods carrying a disheveled man between them. He hung limply, his eyes unfocused, his clothes dirty from the ground.

"Disillusion Charm," muttered Ginny distastefully. "We should set up camp sometime soon… question this guy when he regains consciousness."

"Absolutely," Harry replied almost too energetically. Ginny eyed him suspiciously as she half-dragged half-carried the man back to the path where they then dropped him carelessly. Dylan went to the Death Eaters side,

"Can I do the honours?" He asked Ginny.

"Go ahead."

Dylan flicked his wand and the Death Eater became wrapped in thick ropes, another movement with his wand made him levitate several inches off the ground, his head lolling backwards, hair slightly trailing in the dirt. "That should do," he said.

"I think there's a place not far from here… a clearing in the trees," Harry said to Ginny, his eyebrows furrowed in thought, trying desperately to remember the trail. Ginny nodded and response and set off at a determined walk, resuming her place at the front of the group. Everyone continued after her, their eyes constantly darting around woods surrounding them. Some Aurors didn't even pocket their wands, remaining cautious. Dylan was strolling next to Harry, the unconscious levitating Death Eater in front of them.

"I know that guy," Harry said quietly.

"Vereor Nex?" Dylan asked, matching Harry's tone. Harry nodded in response,

"Not the nicest guy around, let's just say that." He pulled up the sleeve of his shirt to show several scars up his arm, each appearing brutally carved. Harry remembered how he had kept his hand from his other arm pressed against the cuts as they bled profusely. Dylan frowned at them,

"Geez," he muttered as Harry pulled his sleeve back down. Harry notice that Ginny was alone at the front of the group and so took that moment as a possibility.

"Excuse me," he said to Dylan and set off at a fast walk, catching up to Ginny – out of ear range of everyone else.

"I need to talk to you," he said, she frowned momentarily but said nothing. "Why didn't you tell Jack who I was?" The question seemed to slow her pace slightly; she appeared uncomfortable, her cheeks burning scarlet.

"I don't know," she said inaudibly,

"What?"

"I don't know!" She looked at Harry for a moment, "I just… I didn't want to alright?" Harry considered the words,

"…That's not really good enough."

"I know."

"If you don't have a reason then I'll just tell him now shall I?" Harry stopped in his tracks to wait for Jack. Ginny quickly span around, her eyes sparking like fire, she grabbed Harry's jacket and pulled him forward.

"Developed a mean streak while you were away huh?" She said, her voice angry.

"I just… I don't like secrets," he said. "He's going to find out, and I'm sure it's you he'd like to hear it from." Ginny nodded,

"I know… I just don't know what to say."

"The truth helps," Harry replied.

"Easier said than done…" she whispered, kicking the dirt.

"He's not a big fan of me is he?" Harry said, Ginny laughed,

"No, he likes you fine… Harry? Not so much."

"Just, promise me you will do it… soon?" Harry asked, glancing sideways at her.

"Okay," she sighed, "I will… just, keep being James for now? For him anyway?" Harry kept quiet for a moment, "_please?" _She pressed,

"Okay! Fine."

"Thanks Harry," she said.

* * *

"Wake up," Ginny commanded, standing in front of the Death Eater's slumped form. They had tied him to a tree with severe force, and now Ginny, Harry and another Auror Harry didn't know had been given the chore of questioning the Death Eater as the others set up camp. The sun was low in the sky, casting eerie shadows on the ground. Two Aurors were circulating the campground, waving their wands and muttering spells incoherently under their breath – occasionally causing the air to ripple as if an invisible wall was being placed around them. Others set up tents, although there were only few of them, each navy blue in colouring.

"Wake up!" Ginny said again, grabbing the Death Eater by the face and shoving a potion into his slack lips. A few moments passed before the Death Eater started spluttering, his eyes rolling back in his head as he tried to regain focus. When he did, his eyes immediately rested on Harry,

"Potter," he said, his voice a deep croak. His eyes moved around the camp and he laughed hoarsely. "Got yourself a bit of an army here eh?"

"I'll be doing the questioning if you don't mind," Ginny said. She turned to Harry briefly, "you don't have to stay if you don't want to… we can get someone else to do this."

"It's fine," he replied.

"Another Weasley," the Death Eater stated with an air of distaste. His eyes still moving around the camp, he must have seen George and Charlie for he soon said, "bit of a family reunion huh? Everyone's going to have a swell time." He for some reason found this hilariously funny as he began to laugh heartily. Harry, not being able to stand the sound lodged a kick squarely into the ribs of the Death Eater – he could swear he felt a snap as he made impact. The Death Eater slouched sideways, a pained look on his face.

"Shut up Bainsley," he said. Harry felt adrenalin running through him, to be on the other side of the attack felt so wonderful… revenge… he bathed in it.

"Such harsh words for a cowering fool," Bainsley replied, his voice sounding strained through panting breaths. "_Ah, no! Stop! Don't hurt us!_" He imitated, putting on a girly voice. Some Aurors had stopped to listen now,

"Are you tracking Harry?" Ginny asked, holding out a hand to stop Harry running at Bainsley again. He grudgingly held back and waited for the answer. The Death Eater grinned,

"You could say that."

"How?" Replied Ginny. Again, the Death Eater smiled, Harry hadn't realised until then how quickly darkness had fallen on the camp.

"A magician never reveals his tricks!" He said. Harry placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, he felt Ginny's hand grab at his sleeve and tug it away,

"_Don't!" _She warned in an urgent whisper, _"we'll do that when we have to." _Harry grudgingly removed his hand.

"Taking order Potter? That's not in your nature." Bainsley said cruelly. Suddenly his eyes widened slightly, "ooh, is this the girl?" He asked, "the one that kept creeping up in your mind whenever we infiltrated it?" He laughed again. That sound filled his head, and he removed his sword before Ginny could stop him and shoved it through the Death Eaters shoulder with as much force as he could muster. The Death Eater screamed in pain as Harry removed it, his teeth clenched. Ginny grabbed Harry's sword from him,

"I think you should stay out of this one. I'll question him… you can watch if you don't do _anything_. That was out of line Harry, we can't have him dying on us." Although she sounded angry there was something in her eyes that seemed sad. He nodded, his eyes trailing across the Death Eater as he bled, sobbing loud tears of pain.

"Sorry," Harry said to Ginny.

"It's okay, just leave it to me. We need info, not a carcass." Harry went and sat next to George at a safe distance. George was taking a swing from a hipflask, he offered it to Harry who grabbed it hungrily and downed the liquid, feeling it burn his tongue and the base of his throat.

"That was rough, are you okay?" George queried,

"Not really." Harry replied, taking another swing. He could still hear the Death Eater's pained groans; part of him enjoyed the sound, he smirked slightly. Jack walked over and sat down next to George, Harry could see him out of the periphery of his vision,

"They start without me?"

"Yep," replied George.

"Is he _bleeding_?"

"I stabbed him in the shoulder," Harry stated matter-of-factly.

"Oh…" Jack said, "yeah these Death Eaters can get to people, they're cunning that way." George nodded and took the flask off Harry, who was now watching Ginny question the Death Eater, Harry's sword secured in her belt next to her own. She had grabbed his face in one hand, holding it in a vice-like grip.

"_I'm going to give you one more chance," _she was muttering in a fierce undertone.

"Then what? You're going to do worse than what Potter did?" Harry saw Jack stiffen next to George,

"Did he just say Potter?" He asked, looking at George. "Am I the only one who heard that?" George seemed to be panicking, Harry could almost feel his heart rate rise next to him, he was staring at Harry, asking for an answer. Harry grabbed the hip flask off George again and drank, a small smile playing on his lips.

* * *

_Hi guys!_

_Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I had a tough time writing the start of it, I was going to edit it heaps but I just feel like I needed to post! I hope you all have a great Easter, I'll be uploading the next chapter soonish so stay tuned! _

_Phoenixxsong _


	17. Finding Truth

**CHAPTER 17**

**Finding Truth **

"No, seriously, did he just say Potter? Is that just a coincidence… is your last name Potter, James?" Jack asked, frowning. Harry looked at him for a moment; Jack squinted at his face, searching it. "Why didn't I see it before?" He said, "it's you, isn't it?"

"Yes," Harry said.

"Am I the only one who didn't know? … did _you _know, George?" George glanced up briefly, then nodded,

"Yes, I knew… sorry mate." Jack scoffed,

"Brilliant, just brilliant… thanks George, after all I've done for you…" George looked guilty. "And _Ginny_," Jack muttered, looking at her as if he saw her in a new light, he shook his head and stood, storming off. George leaned forward slightly,

"That went well," he muttered sarcastically, Harry snorted,

"Yeah." He pretended to be concerned but just quietly he was feeling a small sense of victory. He hated himself for feeling that way, it didn't feel right to bask in the pain of others – yet here he was sitting in the dark, trying to hide a smirk that continually snuck across his face. Ginny didn't seem to notice Jack's quick appearance and disappearance, her eyes remained on the Death Eater as she questioned him, her voice full of menace. Multiple Aurors had stopped to watch now, some fiddled with their wands wanting to get their piece of a wanted criminal, others just watched pensively.

The Death Eater apparently hadn't given her the answer she wanted as she soon pounced, placing her sword on his throat, forcing him against the tree. Blood seemed to bead on the blade, and it trickled down the hilt to Ginny's hand, where it stained red.

"_Okay!"_ The Death Eater said, his voice strained, pleading, _"I'll tell you, just gerrof me!" _

"I make the rules here," Ginny said, pushing the blade just a little harder, the Death Eater whimpered, "you tell me now, then I'll leave you alone."

"Yes okay, yes! We're tracking him." Harry felt his blood run cold,

"_How?" _Ginny asked. The Death Eater looked around nervously. "Are they here?" The Death Eater seemed to be staring at something behind George and Harry. Harry turned around and noticed he was staring at Jack, who was making small wisps of light come out of his wand.

"_No_," said the Death Eater, "only me." Harry frowned suspiciously, looking between the two.

"How are you doing it?" Ginny asked, still staying in the same position. The Death Eater was fidgeting against the sword, "I wouldn't move if I were you, I'm very close to an important vein, I cut it and you're dead." The Death Eater stopped moving,

"When we first got Potter and the other two there we did … a spell. It helps us track prisoners if they escape…" Ginny loosened the pressure slightly, Harry saw the Death Eater sigh slightly in relief.

"Can you remove it? The trace?" The Death Eater shook his head,

"No!" He shouted, looking more terrified than before. "I won't, they'll know who did it, I'll be a dead man!"

"You're a dead man if you don't remove it… and believe me, you have a better chance of escaping them." Ginny pushed the sword against his neck again,

"_Okay, okay!" _He yelped, "I'll teach you how to, just stop!"

"Good," Ginny muttered, putting her sword back into her belt, "we'll get started as soon as we can." She turned to Harry and smiled slightly, Harry couldn't help but smile back. Ginny walked up to him, Harry saw the Death Eater slump slightly, as if exhausted and relieved.

"You up for it?" She asked,

"Getting rid of the trace? Absolutely… having him perform a spell on me? Not so much." Ginny laughed and shook her head,

"We're not going to have him perform it on you silly… we have a group of fantastic spell casters here, he can tell us how to do it – they'll know if it's right or not," her eyes suddenly darted to Jack, Harry followed her gaze. "What's up with Jack?" She looked back into Harry's eyes,

"He knows," he muttered.

"What? How?" She asked, unable to hide the slight fear in her voice.

"The Death Eater," answered George, "he said Potter a couple of times, didn't think to perhaps make sure no one could hear what he was saying?" Ginny swore under her breath,

"This is my fault," she whispered, "I should've told him earlier…"

"Yes, you should have," replied Harry.

"Thanks heaps, appreciate your support." Harry shrugged in response.

"You'll need to talk to him," George muttered, "work things out, this isn't worth fighting over." Ginny looked between Jack and Harry,

"You're right," she replied, "just give me a second Harry, then we'll work on your trace – you should be safe when you're in the camp anyway." Ginny walked off, Harry watched her go, wanting to stop her but having no reason to. Jack seemed to see her coming as he glanced up, then looked back down. Harry could hear everything they were saying,

"Hey," Ginny muttered, her voice uncertain, Jack didn't reply. "Okay, I'm sorry alright? I wanted to tell you, I just didn't know how."

"Didn't know how?" Jack repeated then laughed, "try just telling me… that's usually a good start."

"I know, I should have, I'm sorry… can we just forget about it?" Jack stood up and went to walk away "hey, what are you doing?" Asked Ginny,

"I don't know, I guess I was hoping we would run into more of your old boyfriends." He replied sarcastically, eyebrows raised. Harry could tell that Ginny was trying to keep her anger in check.

"What is the big deal?"

"Look forget about that, just forget about it! I'm just a little thrown, that's all." He said, waving his hand around vaguely "I thought you told me about things in your life, I thought this would be the kind of thing you –,"

"We have, we do!"

"Well clearly we don't because you didn't tell me about that!"

"Jack, come on! Overreaction much?"

"I'm sorry I'm angry that the girl I love has been _lying to me_. Hell, you've been all secretive ever since Potter showed up!"

"…wait, do you think something is going on?" Harry shifted uncomfortably, knowing he shouldn't be listening, yet unable to stop himself.

"I hope it isn't."

"It's not!"

"Is it going to?" Ginny hesitated for a moment,

"No!"

"You hesitated,"

"No I didn't. Harry is over me anyway," Harry felt his heart sink slightly,

"Yeah, right," Jack was fully facing Ginny now, using his hands to argue his point "think about it from his side Ginny, he leaves and he has you all love hearts in the eyes, a freaking hallelujah chorus… then he gets kidnapped, comes back and sees you with some other guy, do you really think he doesn't have feelings for you anymore?" Ginny stepped towards him,

"But it's _me _you don't have to worry about it because it's me!" Jack snorted,

"Do you think you are going to be strong enough to turn him down if he comes onto you? I know for a fact how much you cared for him."

"…You don't think I'll be strong enough? Are you listening to yourself? You are ranting to me about something that happened before I even met you! That I got over because of you, that I will not go back to because of you!"

"Don't you realise Ginny? It's freaking _Harry Potter_, the boy you loved for so many years; you don't just get over that!"

"Don't just get over that? I _didn't _just get over that! I got over it with time!"

"And then he returned! You got over him when he was dead, and now he isn't! He _wants_ you for God sakes! It doesn't take a genius to notice it."

"You never would have said that if you didn't know who it was! You only suddenly realised that when you found out it was Harry."

"No, I noticed it _before _I found out it was Harry but I figured, hey, it wasn't that big of a deal because this guy is some stranger, and Ginny would never do that to me. But, well, now he isn't, and now I'm not so sure." Ginny and Jack stared each other down for a moment,

"You don't trust me?" Ginny asked.

"When it comes to Harry? No, I really don't." The silence that came after these words sat between the couple like a boundary. Jack frowned,

"I'm going for a walk," he muttered. Ginny watched him go, her mouth forming over the words Harry was sure she wished she had said, she glanced over her shoulder at Harry, as if she knew he had been looking at her the whole time. George sighed next to Harry, it was obvious that he had heard the argument as well. Ginny walked back over to them, her arms crossed in front of her, George offered her the flask and she grabbed it with a small sad smile, and drank. Harry wanted to console her, but he didn't move, he didn't know what he would say. The thing was, Jack was right, he did still love her – and a part of him always would, no matter who she was with.

"Alright," Ginny said, passing the flask back. "Let's get you sorted," she muttered, not making eye contact with Harry. She walked back to the Death Eater and Harry timidly stood and followed; putting his feelings away where they wouldn't cause trouble anymore.

* * *

_A really short chapter and a really quick update!_

_I like writing arguments, they flow out of me like I'm the one having them haha. _

_I'll post the next chapter soon. Thankyou so much for all the reviews – I absolutely love reading them! I get all excited when I see them in my inbox :) _

_Have a great Easter, eat lots of chocolate. _

_Pheonixxsong _


	18. Night

**CHAPTER 18 **

**Night**

"Alright, how do you do it?" Harry asked the Death Eater, who merely grinned back with an air of familiarity.

"Oh Potter, Potter, if they only knew what you were like when you were in Vereor Nex…" Harry half expected Ginny to once again attack the man, but nothing came. He looked up at her; she was staring off at where Jack and her had their fight.

"Gin," Harry said, trying to get her attention.

"What? Oh sorry," she muttered, clearing her throat, "I was just distracted."

"Yeah well we have slightly more pressing matters at hand than the fight you and your boyfriend had, focus," He said, unable to help the anger behind his voice, Ginny frowned in response. Several of the Aurors were surrounded them, still waiting for the Death Eater's response.

"I'm waiting," Harry said to the Death Eater.

"What you have to do," he said, addressing the group and leaning smugly against the tree. "Is kill Harry, that'll do the trick I believe," he chuckled. This time is was Dylan who attacked; he pointed his wand at the Death Eater,

"Sorry, I think I misheard you, what was that?" He asked, Harry smirked in appreciation,

"I think Veritaserum is in order," muttered Harry, a few Aurors nodded in agreement. "Ginny, can you go get us some?" He asked, she nodded vaguely and reached into the pocket of her robes – pulling out a small vial.

"I always keep some on me, just incase," she explained, passing it to Harry. Harry took it and thanked her, then threw it to Dylan who caught it with ease. Dylan uncorked the vial and grabbed the Death Eater's face, forcing Bainsley's tight lips open to force a few drops down his throat. He spluttered,

"Easy there boy," he grumbled.

"I don't go easy on Death Eaters," Dylan spat back, "we're going to ask you again, how do we remove the trace?"

"If I don't tell you, then you'll keep me alive. How do I know you're not going to kill me as soon as I tell you?"

"We'll kill you if you _don't _tell us, we'll figure it out somehow… this way is just faster." The Death Eater looked under his eyelids at Harry and Ginny, before he hacked and spat on the ground,

"I wasn't lying about killing Harry," began the Death Eater with a grumble, "that will work…" but then he caught a glimpse of Dylan's expression, "alrigh' I'll tell you!" He fidgeted uncomfortably in the ropes. "When _those three_ were brought to us, the first thing we did was make them unconscious. After that, we placed a tracing spell on them …_ '__insequor'_ know of it?" He raised his eyebrows and a couple Aurors nodded. "Well then you'd know that it's very rarely done,"

"The spell was banned, that's why," announced one of the female Aurors.

"Yeah but so are unforgivables and you still hear those being shouted left, right and centre don't ya?" He laughed,

"'Insequor' is ancient, barely anyone knows of it… the only reason some of us do is because in training it was probably mentioned," Dylan explained.

"So you know what it is and can't get rid of it?" Asked the Death Eater, a laugh erupting at the base of his throat, "great Auror training that is!" Harry came over to the Death Eater's side and stared him down with his piercing green eyes. Bainsley sighed, "Persuasive bunch aren't you? ... Someone just has to say, _'dimitto_,' then cut the person who carries it… then a person who doesn't have the trace and kinda… mix blood." A few Aurors stared at him skeptically, "_what?" _He asked, "I'm telling the truth! I have to be."

"And after that the trace will be gone? The Death Eaters won't be able to find me?" Harry asked, keeping the concern out of his voice. Bainsley nodded,

"But they can find me."

"What?"

"We all have the trace too – just so they know where we are… we're not as big as we used to be, we have to know who is in Azkaban… and who is working against us. We've caught a lot of bad Death Eaters that way let me assure you," he snickered again.

"That's why we've never been able to find many Death Eaters…" Ginny said, it was the first words she had uttered in a while – a few people looked up at her and the Death Eater nodded, still smiling.

"Why are you smiling?" Asked Dylan with annoyance in his voice.

"You think these spells you've used are stronger than the trace?" He laughed, "they will have been watching… they'll know he's here," he said, nodding to Harry, "and they'll know I'm here. They would have guessed that you have been trying to take information out of me, and they'll be quite desperate to cover up their secrets. It will take them a while to find you, but they will… in fact," he continued, leaning in, "there might be one already among us!" He started laughing again, revealing his cracked teeth as he tilted his head back.

Dylan looked up at Harry with concern in his eyes,

"Withdraw the traces," Harry said urgently. "_Now!" _He pulled out his sword and without a second thought, sliced the throat of Bainsley. His laughter stopped immediately as his lips went slack and his head fell back. No one questioned Harry's actions and Ginny and Dylan quickly raced over to him, Ginny was facing him, she had taken her wand out of her pocket,

"_Dimitto_!" She muttered very quickly, she then took her sword out of its hilt and sliced her hand, then grabbed Harry's and did the same – he did not even wince at the sting. They clasped hands, Harry could feel her blood on his palm, her pulse against his, they stared at each other for a moment before letting go.

"Do you think it would have been soon enough?" Asked Dylan, Harry shook his head,

"No."

"They know where we are," came the voice of George, "but it's not safe to move."

"It's not exactly safe to stay either…"

"So what do we do?" Asked Ginny,

"Hold the border… they won't be able to see us or hear us, we'll have the advantage," said Harry.

"We can't exactly see them either in this darkness…" Ginny said, "but we should stay, everyone will just have to keep quiet so we can hear." The Auror's appeared to have heard her because they all fell dead silent, their backs facing the camp, wands at their sides. The silence was incredibly unnerving as Harry joined the perimeter; although there were people all around him he felt incredibly alone – just waiting for something to attack.

"Disillusion charms," Harry heard a male Auror mutter to his neighbour, "they might have used them, just like that other Death Eater did…" Harry shut his eyes to the night, willing his other senses to improve to make up for his blindness. He could feel the light and familiar wood of his wand in his palm, the blood that acutely ran from the wound on his hand. He could hear the gentle creaking of the trees, and a sudden crack as if a twig was being stood on. The sound screamed at Harry and he was quick to shot a Stunning Spell into the darkness. Harry opened up his eyes to find the Aurors staring at where the spell was cast,

"_It came from over there!" _Came a female voice. Suddenly a wave of several curses were sent their way – most managed to duck in time but some fell heavily to the ground, their wands flying into the air. The Death Eaters were firing blindly, and the Aurors responded with a stronger wave in return. Some had stepped over the threshold of the camp to duel the Death Eaters with more severity – others saw the barrier as an advantage so stayed behind it.

Harry dodged a killing curse and sent a stunning spell in return, it hit and the Death Eater fell to the ground. To his left and right Aurors were dueling Death Eaters, all appearing to be going for the kill rather than the capture. It seemed that the number of Aurors almost doubled the number of Death Eaters but it didn't stop the fact that there were now a couple still bodies on the ground.

Harry saw a spell erupt quite close in front of him – he removed his sword and stabbed the air – feeling it make contact with a figure. He withdrew it, his sword gleaming crimson as the Death Eater collapsed to the ground, a hand pressed against the wound now on his heart. Harry turned and saw Ginny dueling two Death Eaters at once, she didn't appear to be struggling but he still called out to her,

"_Need help?_" Ginny withdrew her wand and stabbed the Death Eater behind her, then the one in front of her so quickly that they appeared to fall at the same time.

"I'm fine," she said, walking away from the bodies to assist in fighting the others.

Harry felt a hand clasp his neck with crippling force, he was shoved against a tree,

"I've got 'im!" The large Death Eater yelled with triumph in his voice. Harry struggled against the hands that held him, punching the Death Eater in the throat with his free hand. The Death Eater removed his hands and clasped his own neck, choking and spluttering. Harry stunned him quickly with a strained voice – it was as if he could still feel the hands around his neck.

The battle raged on for several more minutes before the Death Eaters admitted defeat and ran. Two Aurors chased after them but soon returned in a panting mess, stating that they had vanished. Several bodies littered the floor, a few of them Aurors – although Harry did not know them personally, he felt their loss like a severe blow. Although all the Aurors knew that the death was a part of the job it seemed to take a huge toll on the group. Harry could feel their spirits towards the mission drop severely; he even heard a few talking in hush whispers about leaving before the mortality rate rose any more. Harry pretended not to hear them, or to feel their eyes burning holes in the back of his neck. He had to keep moving, and he knew he would – with or without them.

* * *

The dead Auror's bodies were respectfully buried by a large tree near the camp. Each Auror marked the tree with their wand, stating sad farewells and staring at the displaced earth. The Death Eaters were also buried, but in a different area – Harry had recognised a few of the faces as he pushed them into the graves. He could never get used to the idea of killing another human, no matter what they had done to him… and he was met by a familiar feeling of guilt.

Just as Harry finished with the graves a fearful voice came from behind him, "Harry, have you seen Jack?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Jack!" George said, Charlie was next to him, eyes grazing over their surroundings. "Ginny said she can't find him, no one has seen him since he stormed off." Harry looked around at the dark,

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, he wasn't even around when we fought the Death Eaters…" Harry could see that George and Charlie were fearing the worst. He could have been killed by the Death Eaters or taken to Vereor Nex.

"He was an idiot for leaving the camp," Harry muttered. Ginny was walking towards the edge of the camp with a sense of determination. Harry ran towards her, a slight limp in his step – he grabbed her arm just as she went to step outside the boundary.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to find him," her voice was annoyingly resolute.

"No you're not."

"Uh, yes I am. Let go of me." Ginny said, staring at his hand. He removed it,

"Jack is a grown man, he'll come back. If he has been captured by the Death Eaters then we'll find him when we go to Vereor Nex, there's nothing we can do."

"And what if he is lost?" She asked. Harry sighed,

"Then we'll find him in the morning – you go out there you'll be lost too."

"Harry you can't stop m –," she stopped, looking out into the dark. "What's that?" Harry had seen it too, a shadowy movement in the distance. Harry instinctively reached for his sword but stopped when he saw Jack's glum face approaching the camp. Ginny and Harry waited till he passed the boundary before Ginny hugged him. Jack placed his arms unenthusiastically around her – all the while his eyes were on Harry.

"You idiot! Where have you been?" Ginny asked. Her voice perfectly mimicked Mrs. Weasley's when Harry came to the Burrow for the first time in a flying car.

"I needed to clear my head," he grumbled. Ginny let go of him and frowned,

"But… you've been gone for hours,"

"I wasn't missed," he challenged. Ginny clenched her jaw, George and Charlie ran over at the sight of Jack,

"Where've you been?" Charlie asked

"Out."

"Wow… descriptive, I can picture it now." Muttered George

"We were attacked," Ginny stated. "We were attacked and you weren't here – three Aurors died, _three_, and you weren't here."

"What?" Asked Jack, eyes widening, "who? When?"

"The trace that was on Harry," Jack twitched at the sound of his name but only Harry seemed to notice it. "It lead them here, we were attacked – Moriarty, Keanton and Moore are dead."

"Oh my_ god,"_ he said, his voice horrified.

"Next time think about what you're doing instead of just doing it," Ginny said.

"I'm sorry," he said, "I'm really – I didn't know. I was just angry…"

"I know you were but next time just don't storm off okay?" Jack shot a passing glance at Harry,

"Okay… but are you hurt?" He asked. Ginny shook her head,

"We were lucky – they gave up pretty quickly." It seemed to Harry that Jack had given up being angry with Ginny in light of the circumstances. "But it would have helped if you were here…"

"I know, I won't do it again… I promise."

* * *

Soon after Jack returned the Auror's decided to go into the tents and sleep. Two individuals would keep watch throughout the night, changing whenever they felt the need or couldn't keep their eyes open any longer. Harry offered to take the first shift but was told very sternly that he needed his rest if he was going to navigate well the next day.

Each tent held five single beds, all of a military character. The walls of the tent were a navy blue, as were the sheets on the beds and the counters in the small kitchen. The whole tent carried a new-car smell, Harry found himself missing the tent he, Ron and Hermione lived in whilst searching for the Horcruxes – it was smaller, and smelt, but it more like home than this museum-like habitat. Harry, Jack, George, Ginny and Charlie shared the tent together – seeing it as a practical idea. Harry could see a protest behind Jack's eyes when George had suggested it, but he kept quiet. Harry took the bed closest to the entrance of the tent, his mind was wide awake – the day ran through his head at top speed. He could feel that he was tired, his body told him so with weak limbs and pained muscles… but his mind refused to settle. He shut his eyes as he heard the others enter the tent.

"Man I need rest," Charlie said, yawning.

"I know, feels like I've ran a marathon… twice… carrying a boulder," replied George.

"We need our sleep," agreed Ginny. Harry heard the sound of lips smacking and he opened one eye slightly just in time to see Ginny remove her lips from Jacks.

"Goodnight, love you," she said – two words that hit Harry like a tonne of bricks.

"Yeah, you too," he replied, again, shooting a glance at Harry – he quickly shut his eyes again. He heard all four of them settle into their beds and he shut his eyes, praying for sleep to come.

* * *

"_Harry!" Ginny screamed as her broom took a shuddering dive again. She pulled up on the front of it, trying to pull it out of the sure crash that was going to happen. All of a sudden, as if reading her mind the broom stopped, completely throwing her off balance and pushing her over the front, she hung on for dear life, her fingers meeting around the smooth wood as she swung in the violent wind. _

_The rain beat harder, thunder ripping the sky open in a startling cry. Ginny's hair stuck to her neck and the constant rain blurred her vision, she couldn't see anyone or anything around her, she was going to die, hanging to a broom in a stupid act of stupidity. She wasn't sure if she was crying as her muscled refused to raise her back onto the now-steady broom; the rain was too thick it was impossible to distinguish between tears and raindrops. _

_She heard a noise coming from behind her and she turned quickly which was apparently not a good idea. She fell back down from any progress she had made, her hands slipping to hold on._

"_Help!" She yelled, pushing her hands up to get a better grip… and then she saw it, a figure approaching her on a broom, head bent against the storm. She swore she heard her name being said, but another clap of thunder stopped her from hearing. Her broom began to shudder again and her fingers slipped from any grip she had managed to get._

_Ginny went to yell out for help again but her voice prevented her from speaking; it was so wound up in fear. Within seconds Harry was at her side, absolutely soaked and shivering, he didn't even have his glasses on, his eyes shone out from the storm. He quickly clasped Ginny around the ribs and lowered her onto his Firebolt but refused to let go of the strong grip he had on her. Ginny watched as her broom began to shudder and fall, twisting as the wind ripped at it. _

_Harry's breath heated on her cheek as he lowered the broom down from the height she was at – a ridiculous height she had never dared to climb to before, even when she was playing Quidditch. She exhaled in relief as her feet touched the ground, it felt as if the entire time she was up there she was holding her breath. _

_Harry looked at her; with an expression she couldn't read… They stood in silence for a minute, just staring and letting the rain almost push them into the ground. Ginny was ashamed, why the hell did she do that? Was it because Fred and George had dared her? Was it because she wanted to show them she was fearless? Or was she trying to show herself? Harry sighed and nodded, as if reading her thoughts. He dropped his Firebolt into the grass and put his hands onto her arms, which felt like they were going to fall off from cold. _

"_You scared the hell out of me," he said, his eyes stealing her gaze. Ginny tried to apologise, to thank him, but the words refused to form on her lips. _

_Harry took a deep breathe and pulled her into an embrace, completely warming her over. She placed her arms around him, her fingers clasped around his shoulder blades. _

_He pulled away slowly and Ginny looked up, unable to see her broom anymore amongst the murky grey of the sky and the bright flashes of yellow and white. Harry picked up his Firebolt from the ground, he mounted it without another word and pushed hard against the ground soaring almost vertically upwards to search for her broom. _

Ginny awoke with a start and took a minute to realise where she was, the unfamiliarity of her surroundings almost scared her. The tent was dark, and outside she could hear a storm, with harsh winds whirling cold rain over everything. She shut her eyes for a moment, the distant memory she had almost forgotten about now emblazed in her mind. She swung her legs over the side of the bed, wondering who was on watch that night, and if she should offer to help.

"Couldn't sleep either?" Came a quiet voice to her right, she turned quickly to see a soft silhouette of Harry leaning against the wall by his bed, much like she was now.

"No," she answered, feeling her pulse move back to a normal rate. "I mean, yes, but I don't think I'll be able to again…"

"Why not?" Ginny shrugged even though she was quite sure Harry couldn't see her in the darkness. They sat in silence for a moment,

"I had a dream about you," Ginny said quietly, "just then."

"Oh really?" Harry laughed,

"Nothing suspicious I promise," she said, smiling slightly in the dark. "Just a memory… remember that time you saved me on my broom in that storm?" There was a moment's pause,

"Yeah I do," he said, almost as if he was picturing it in his minds eye. "You scared the hell out of me,"

"I scared the hell out of myself…"

"I swear you thought you were invincible," he muttered.

"I didn't think that…" she replied, but didn't continue any further. The next words came so quietly that Ginny wondered if Harry had spoken them at all.

"I would've done anything for you," he said, "anything…" he shifted slightly, crunching the covers, "I still would." The words ran seemed to run straight down Ginny's chest, making her throat ache, she opened and shut her mouth. "I'm sorry about the fight you had with Jack," he continued, "I didn't want that to happen… even if I really don't like the guy," Ginny smiled, finding that last fact quite amusing. She stood as quietly as she could from her bed and walked over to Harry's, settling herself next to him.

"Sorry," he said, Ginny could see now that he was smirking, "guess you didn't need to know that last part." Ginny shook her head, noticing that his hand was settled in between them she clasped it, enlacing his fingers with hers. She could feel the absence of one of his fingers and the rough texture of his palm.

"What are you doing?" He whispered, although he didn't remove his hand. Ginny placed her other hand on his arm, running it up and down over his bicep and forearm – feeling the bumps and scars that were unknown to her.

"Remembering," she whispered almost inaudibly. Her hand went to move onto his chest but he stopped her with the hand that was not clasping hers.

"Jack won't like that," he replied, staring at her with a serious and yet pained expression, she withdrew her hand.

"Sorry," she muttered. Harry clenched his jaw and frowned, withdrawing his hand from hers.

"I forget sometimes," he said.

"Forget what?"

"That things are different," he clasped his hand together in his lap. "You should get some rest… or at least try to, we've got a big day tomorrow." Ginny stood,

"I'm sorry," she whispered, "I didn't mean…"

"I know," he said, "I know… I just – I can't." Ginny bit the inside of her lip and turned towards her bed, wondering if what she had just done was exactly what Jack had predicted she would do.

"Night Harry," she whispered.

* * *

_Hey everyone! It has been a while, I know… but a lot has been going on in my life at the moment. I just turned eighteen for example! Yay! But yeah I've been a busy little beaver. :) _

_Sorry to down the mood a little but can people please stop complaining about chapter lengths? Everyone has different preferences to how long they want them – and I understand both sides of the argument. I wish I could please you all but I can't! So I'll upload whenever I can, with whatever length I can manage, whether that be a long or a short chapter… I hope you understand. I'm trying! Last chapter was short, this chapter is long. I haven't had a chance to read over it, I just wanted to submit it – so I'm sorry if there are some errors. _

_That having been said, another huge thankyou for all the reviews and personal emails I've been getting. They've all been really great to read, I appreciate them like you wouldn't believe! (Sorry for the essay of an Authors note! Haha!)_

_Pheonixxsong _


	19. Old Habits

**CHAPTER 19**

**Old Habits**

Morning came to Harry quicker than expected. His eyes had barely shut for what felt like a minute before the sun shone through the entrance to the tent. Immediately, there was the hustle of people moving around him. Despite his lack of sleep, he was surprisingly awake – and so was one of the first prepared that morning.

Ginny had offered him a small smile when she woke up, which he didn't return. Harry could still feel her hands on his skin from the night before. He felt an air of discontent towards her – she couldn't toy with his emotions like that, and then expect him to be happy when she returns to the arms of Jack. _'Professional,' _Harry kept telling himself, _'last night was nothing, be professional." _

At breakfast, Harry noticed that eyes kept darting in between the newly dug graves and Harry. It was as if they rendered him responsible. Harry kept his eyes on the ground in front of him; he couldn't handle any more guilt than he already felt. He thought of Ron and Hermione, saving them, having them at arms distance, pulling them away from that place. It was enough to keep his mind at bay.

They set upon their journey again – multiple feet scuffing the dirt, Harry navigating. Navigating was like trying to remember a dream; all the details of turns and paths had slipped from his memory – lost in the desperate desire to get away from Vereor Nex. He wished he had made markings on trees, or paid more attention to where his feet took him.

"_We've already been down here!" _Called a disgruntled voice from the back of the group.

"No we haven't!" Harry called back. But then he looked around; there was an awkward tree that hung over the path, with knotted branches that he could recall passing ten minutes ago. He could also just make out a number of footprints on the dirt in front of him, he swore to himself.

"We've made a wrong turn haven't we?" Said George, following Harry's eyes. Harry nodded, realising how much time they had wasted.

"We were meant to go straight," he muttered to himself, before setting off again, to much muttering and negative comments from the Aurors behind him.

"We'll make the time up," came the voice of Ginny behind Harry.

"Yeah," came Jack's voice, "yeah we will." Harry couldn't help but feel that Jack was merely agreeing with Ginny to feel the void their fight may have opened the night before.

They walked until their legs felt like weights had been attached to them, until their back ached and the road in front of them turned blurry. They hadn't come across any more Death Eaters, Harry assumed it was because the trace was gone – but he was certain they were still out there searching. The anticipation of attack felt like prickles on the back of his neck. Just when they were about to quit and search for a campsite, Harry felt an arm jut out in front of him, bringing him to a halt. Charlie was squinting into the distance,

"What is it?" Asked George. Harry saw it too, something large moving behind the trees, he clutched his wand, but Charlie shook his head at him.

"It's not human," he muttered.

"Doesn't mean it's good!" Harry replied. Then they came into full-view, several Centaurs, lead by a man with black horse legs and long, ebony hair. They all held their bow and arrows aloft, prepared to take them all down. Charlie raised his hand in defense,

"We're only passing through!" He announced, "we don't mean any harm!"

"This area is restricted," the leader announced, a few of the others beat their hooves against the ground.

"Our sincere apologies, we didn't know," Charlie stated. Harry could hear a few Aurors shifting uncomfortably – not loving being held at firing length of centaur arrows.

"Have you seen any Death Eaters around?" Asked a female Auror from somewhere behind Harry. The centaur stepped forward with authority and assessed the group with a stare.

"You are the first humans we have encountered today," he said, his deep voice a warning not to question any further.

"Please, just let us pass," Harry said. "We're trying to get to Vereor Nex, to save lives –,"

"What you are doing does not concern us," the dark bay to the right of the leader muttered. "It is what you are doing in this moment, that does. Tell your people to lower their weapons." Harry turned around and noticed that a few Aurors held their wands in clenched fists. Harry raised his eyebrows at them and they lowered them, keeping a wary eye on the centaurs.

"Now you lower your weapons," Harry said. Charlie looked at him, and for a moment Harry wondered if he had pushed the centaurs too far. He was used to addressing centaurs at Hogwarts, but these appeared meaner, more territorial. The leader tilted his head, as if considering before raising a hand – the centaurs lowered their weapons. You could feel some of the tension leaving the air. "Can we please just pass through? We have been hiking since sunrise, we are all very tired – we promise not to bother you again." The leader frowned, and considered the words for a moment.

"Very well," he stated, his voice sounding like a drum. "But I will remember your promise." Harry nodded in thanks and the centaurs walked away, some of them sealing their departure with steel-like glares and beating hooves. Only when the sound of them had completely disappeared did they continue walking in silence. They walked for another hour, afraid to stop, too weak to go on, until they found a clearing. By then the sun was casting long, dark shadows, and they had to set up camp quickly so that they would not be encased by night.

* * *

When the darkness did settle over the camp, everyone retreated inside to decide what the next day would bring. Once again, Harry was asked if he was positive they were going the right direction, but the more he thought about it, the more he doubted his certainty – they doubted him too, it seemed.

"We're going to just keep going the way we're going," Harry explained.

"And if we're going the wrong way?" Asked a male Auror named Colin, whose red hair dimmed in comparison to George's who sat next to him.

"Then we will have wasted a lot of time," Harry stated simply.

"That's not good enough," Colin stated, and a few Aurors nodded in agreement. "We can't just waste precious days –,"

"Do you have a better idea? A quicker way?" Harry asked, frowning, "because if you do then I'd love to hear it." Colin swallowed and shook his head,

"Didn't think so."

"How far away are we?" Asked Dylan, rocking backwards on the stool he was sitting on.

"We don't know," Ginny stated.

"Can we guess?" Asked Jack,

"We can, but we'd probably be wrong," Ginny shot back. Harry rubbed his eyes,

"Probably a day, maybe two…" he muttered, trying to remember how long it took him to get back – he rubbed a scar on his arm subconsciously. The group fell into silence,

"Harry, do you think –," Ginny began, but then was cut off by Harry standing.

He mumbled some excuse – any excuse – that would get him away from the group. He was sick of their disappointed tones, their accusative statements that were blatantly directed at him… he just wanted to get away from them, away from Ginny and the burning desire that coursed through his veins.

"I'll come with you," Ginny said, no question in her voice. Harry saw Jack look up and frown, he smirked at the thought that he was holding back a retort. Harry didn't respond to Ginny, and walked off without her, but he could feel her following a few paces behind. They walked until they were behind the tents, into a thick mess of trees, the edge of the campsite. Harry leant against a tree, enjoying the dark that surrounded him. Ginny stood in front of him, and crossed her arms.

"What?" He asked,

"What have I done?" She asked,

"What have you –,"

"Why are you acting like this? You've barely talked to me all day, and when you have to it's forced," she shifted her weight between her feet. Harry laughed a little on the inside, she was nervous talking to him. "Is it… is it because of last night?" Harry's eyes suddenly darted to hers, giving him away – Ginny sighed, drawing her conclusion.

"No," Harry lied.

"Then why?"

"Ginny, I've had a long day. A really long day." He rubbed his eyes, feeling the lack of sleep catching up with him. "And Ron and Hermione don't seem any closer than they were when we set out on this journey…"

"They are!" Ginny said, "we're getting there."

"Are we?" He stared at her; his eyes had now adjusted to the complete lack of light. "Please," he said, "just leave me alone." Harry took his back off the tree and went to walk further away when he heard the sound of metal scraping and a stiff pain in his back.

"Why?" Ginny asked

"Put down the sword," Harry muttered, with an uninterested tone.

"Not until you tell me," she stated. Harry turned around so that her swords tip was now sitting on his chest.

"So that's how it is? You don't like me behaving like this, so it's either tell you or we duel?" He raised his eyebrows in speculation, he saw her clench her jaw, only her stubborn nature keeping her in place. He decided to call her bluff, "go on then, kill me."

"Har –,"

"Why else would you have a sword pointed at my chest? Kill me." He was saying it simply, as if they were talking about the weather. She frowned for a moment then lowered her sword,

"I would never kill you."

"Then stop pointing that thing at me," he warned. It wasn't that Harry didn't understand what she was doing – their minds were very similar, when they were annoyed it felt good to do something practical – to put all their energy into something so that they didn't have to think anymore. Harry turned his back on her again,

"Hey! Don't walk away from me! We're not finished!" Ginny argued, clasping him by the shoulder. Harry stopped, feeling once again the electricity that seemed to flow from her hand into his skin. She left her hand there for a moment before he spun around and grabbed her wrist so quickly that she flinched.

"Stop it," he growled, "stop confusing me."

"Harry, you're hurting my arm," Ginny said, he released her.

"You're toying with me. I'd expect it from other girls Gin, but not from you."

"What do you mean _toying _with you?"

"You're taken, I've respected that, you have bloody _Prince Charming_ over there, I kept my boundaries… but then it ends up being _you _who puts her foot wrong. You do these things…" Harry spat before stopping for a moment, "you know how I feel about you." Ginny swallowed,

"I wasn't trying to…"

"You can't have both of us."

"I don't want –,"

"What do you want?"

"Will you let me _finish?_" She snapped. "I'm sorry… for being confusing, but it's confusing for me too!"

"How?"

"I… I wasn't over you when I met Jack," Ginny searched Harry's eyes for a moment, "but I got over you… because you weren't _here_ and I figured you'd never be _here _again." She was gesturing wildly – as if she could paint what she meant before them with her hands. Harry frowned, and she swallowed, "but the only reason I did get over you was _because you weren't here_… you know?"

"…. No"

"You came back, and it just put some old feelings into play,"

"So what am I suppose to do? Sit back and watch you be with him until you have a random whim like last night and let your guard slip?"

"No, no… I don't expect that."

"What do you expect?"

"I don't know! I'm trying to work out what's in my head right now." Harry clenched his jaw,

"But I love you!" Harry suddenly yelled, as if his mouth worked at its own accord. Ginny opened her mouth as if she was about to say something, then closed it again. Harry clenched his fists, "I love you… I wish I didn't. I wish I was over you…" He looked down at the ground, frowning in thought.

"I can't stand just being like this – every time you kiss him, it's like someone has gotten a blade and stuck it into my gut." Harry stared at her, "I'm a jealous guy Gin, I always have been… you know this… but I've been good, I've stayed back – I haven't done anything stupid because I _want_ you to be happy, and I see that you're happy when you're with him."

"Harry… I – ," Ginny began,

"I know I complicate things, I know that you were perfectly fine before I showed up again… but I have, and I'm not going anywhere…" Harry swallowed and stopped speaking. There was a moment where Harry merely stared at the ground whilst Ginny tried to think of what to say, the tension between them felt stiff and impenetratable.

Ginny shook her head slightly,

"I was not perfectly fine until you showed up," she whispered, stepping towards him. He raised his eyes and stared at her, she was close, very close. He could feel the heat from her body as his own anticipated contact. She ran one hand up his arm and rested it on his bicep, then tilted her head slightly up to his. In a single moment she pushed her fingers through his hair and pulled him hungrily into a kiss. Time seemed to move slower, Harry kissed back, his arms wrapped around her waist, his body pressed against hers. Ginny placed a hand on his cheek, and they stayed there in their embrace, their bodies remembering, after years of being apart, exactly what to do. Harry pressed himself close to Ginny, so that any hurt left on the surface was spread thin and becomes a binding instead of a boundary. They broke apart to breathe again, Harry stared at her,

"Damn it," she whispered, before kissing him again.

* * *

_Haha, finally right? This chapter is for all you Harry/Ginny fans out there, like me! ;) I'm sorry this update took so long - the amount of essays I've been made to write recently - they're trying to kill me!_

_Click the review button! It makes me so so happy! :D What did you think of this chapter? Loved it? Hated it? Do you think I did the Ginny/Harry scene okay? I want to know!_

_Love to all,_

_Pheonixxsong_


	20. Die Hard

**Chapter 20**

**Die Hard**

Everything Ginny was doing felt so right, and yet so wrong at the same time. Harry had seen the twinge of guilt in her eyes and asked her if she was okay, she nodded and kissed him full on the mouth. She had never cheated before, Jack was perfect – but Harry was Harry… and no matter how much she denied it to herself – she always had, and always will love him.

Harry's hands ran under her shirt and rested on her naked back as she entwined her legs around his waist. He pushed her against a tree, their kisses long and powerful. Ginny couldn't get over how familiar he felt under her hands as she clasped the bottom of his shirt and pulled it over his head. She could feel all the scars running over her hands, bumps and bruises that must hurt so badly and yet Harry never complained about. She kissed his chest and he lowered her off the tree. Ginny's hand trailed down his front to his belt, he stopped her, clasping her forearm – staring at her intently.

"Are you sure?" He asked, voice a soft whisper. She fidgeted out of his grip and nodded – Ginny was sure, but her mind kept flashing back to Jack, his suspicions, his accusations… But then Harry kissed her again, and all these worries just seem to disappear into him. They lowered to the ground and Harry placed his arms either side of her torso. His pale face stared deep into hers before he kissed her neck; his hands undoing buttons and zips with polished ease.

"I love you," Ginny whispered. Harry stopped kissing her, and looked at her in silence for a moment.

"I love you too," he replied, tracing a hand down her cheek, "forever." Ginny flipped him, the dirt now coating both their backs and removed any articles of clothing that didn't already sit on the ground just meters from them. It was freezing cold, the owls hooted defiantly, the trees hissed, but all the lovers could do was stay in their embrace. Harry moved on her, in her, with her, they were one. Heat radiated off their skin, warming the other, as Ginny hooked her legs around his waist, pulling him as close as possible. Until, after what seemed like forever, they stopped in a panting mess, collapsed on each other, still relishing the night, enjoying their company, loving each other.

* * *

Ginny and Harry were awoken by a concerned voice which sounded like George, calling their name.

"_Harry! Ginny! Are you okay?" _

It was then they realised how long they had been gone for, possibly hours. Harry thanked the night for being their cover as they dressed as fast as they could.

"_Harry! Call out!" _George's voice came. Harry swore under his breath and continued dressing. Once he was dressed he turned to Ginny, smoothing down folds and making her appear presentable.

"We're over here!" Harry called out. George heard him,

"Oh thank God! Do you have any idea how long you've been out here for? What have you been doing?! I know I sound like mum, but I was worried sick!" His voice came closer and closer. Harry and Ginny looked at each other,

"What are we going to do?" He asked her,

"We'll tell him we had an argument, we dueled," she whispered.

"That's not what I mean."

"I know," she replied, and pulled him into a passionate kiss before casting a glance in the direction George's voice was coming. "We'll work something out, we have to." Ginny rested her forehead on his for a moment, Harry nodded and they broke apart, walking towards George's voice. George saw them, a perfect display of concern set across his face; he looked at both of them, up and down.

"What'd you _do_ to each other?" He queried, his worry turning to amusement.

"Uh, fight." Harry muttered, "Ginny was being a git so we dueled," Ginny shot him a glare and he smirked.

"Looks more like you had a wrestling match," George said. "Haven't you ever heard of the expression 'make love, not war'?"

"We'll keep that in mind for next time," Ginny answered, Harry could see the shadow of a smile pass her lips for a moment.

"I'm surprised you didn't kill each other," George muttered. "Back into your old constant dueling ways huh? …" he looked Ginny up and down then glanced at Harry, his expression turning serious. Harry felt his pulse beginning to rise, surely he suspected something, "but you know Potter," George was saying, "if you hurt my baby sister…"

"Oh! No – no I won't," Harry promised. "She was doing most of the hurting anyway," he could feel Ginny stiffen slightly beside him and he smiled to himself.

George nodded slowly, "good," his hands were clasped on the opposite forearm, he was shuddering slightly, "can we go inside now please? I'm freezing, and exhausted, and we were all worried as hell… get inside."

"Wow, you do sound like mum," replied Ginny.

"Don't think you've gotten out of being grounded," George said, a smile erupting on his face, he set off at a strong walk that almost resembled a run, back to the tents. Harry yawned and followed, his eyes glazing over their surroundings, half expecting a Death Eater to jump out. Because, for once, things seemed to be going his way… surely something horrible was about to happen.

When they entered the tent, Jack was sitting on a chair by the table. He stood when they entered the tent – he too looked them up and down, as George had, but Harry could see accusation getting stuck in Jack's throat. The very sight of him made Harry's skin crawl as Jack looked over Ginny possessively.

"They had a fight," George explained, "but it's all good now, right?"

"Yeah," Ginny said, sighing. Jack walked over to her,

"Look at you," he said, running his hands up and down her arms, Harry clenched his fists behind his back. _Don't_, he thought to himself, _don't do anything stupid._ "You're freezing,"

"I'm fine," Ginny replied with a forced smile.

"I was worried," he continued, pulling her into an embrace. Harry wondered if Jack would be able to smell him on her, to know that something wasn't right. However, as the embrace continued it seemed that even if Jack did suspect something, he didn't show it. Ginny placed her arms around Jack for a moment, but then caught Harry's eye. She looked at him apologetically, and he nodded, understanding and yet unable to silence the feelings inside him. Harry settled himself down on his bed, not tearing his eyes away from them as he took off his jacket.

Jack kissed Ginny on the lips for a prolonged moment of time before saying goodnight and muttering something softly into her ear, Ginny smiled when he finished and nodded. Jack left Ginny standing and crawled into bed, Ginny walked over to Harry, solid wood between the beds the only divider between them and the others. Ginny ran her fingers through Harry's hair then rested it on his cheek,

"Goodnight," she said, eyes full of the words unsaid between them. Harry clasped her hand with his, kissing her palm.

"Goodnight," he responded. He wondered if through her hand she could feel his pulse beating under his skin. Jealousy. Desire.

With a quick smile Ginny disappeared, and Harry lay down on his bed – head full of swarming thoughts, but too tired to consider any of them. He shut his eyes, and almost immediately fell asleep.

"Oi Potter, wake up." Harry felt the side of his bed lurch as someone kicked it. He rubbed his eyes and sat up,

"Are we being attacked?" He asked, going to reach for his sword.

"No," said Charlie's voice, "we're trying to pack up the tent, thought it would be a good idea to get you out of it first." Harry sat up and swung his legs over the bed, bringing a hand up to ruffle his hair.

"How long has everyone been awake for?" Harry asked, noticing the sun streaming through the door.

"A while, sun came up about an hour ago."

"Why didn't anyone wake me?" Harry asked, annoyed. Precious time once again wasted. It was George who answered as he walked through the tent, grabbing his coat from the back of the chair.

"Because you look so cute when you sleep."

"Hilarious, thankyou."

"Happy to help," George said as he left the tent just as quickly as he came with a salute.

"We thought you could do with the rest," Charlie explained, "after that argument with the Aurors and the fight with Ginny –,"

"Where is she?" He asked quickly. Charlie frowned for a moment,

"Outside, there's a lake about a minutes walk from here," It was only then that Harry realised that Charlie's hair was saturated, dripping onto the carpet. Harry stood slowly, his back ached in pain and he grabbed it with a small wince,

"You okay?" Charlie asked, putting his hand out as if Harry were about to fall. Harry nodded and grit his teeth,

"It's always worse in the mornings." He muttered, grabbing his jacket, he proceeded towards the door. Charlie followed close behind him, still prepared as if Harry was going to collapse. When he stepped outside, Harry was blinded for a moment by the sun; he squinted and blinked, looking up at the sky. It was a pale blue, with only a thin layer of cloud. The sky promised warmth, and yet it was severely cold – the kind of cold that bit into his flesh. Harry pulled his jacket close around him. The campsite was empty, but he could hear movement and distant talking immediately to their right – so he set off towards it.

The path he was taking had this horrible air of familiarity to it. As if he was suffering déjà vu. The trees were thin and tall, casting a dappled light across the floor in front of him. He stopped suddenly remembering,

_Harry had fallen against a tree, his breathes staggered and uneven. The storm was bursting open with lightning and deafening the world with thunder – muffling Harry's breathing, although he could see no rain. He fell to the ground, throat feeling as if he had just swallowed razorblades, body feeling as if he had run a marathon. He touched his side gently and looked at his hand, now stained with blood. He had to keep moving, he had to. Harry looked up, and it was like a mirage had appeared before him. A narrow lake stretched in front of him, full of murky water. He half expected it to disappear as he stumbled over to it, but it didn't. He collapsed at the edge, plunging his hands into the water; he cupped them and drank heavily. Unsure if the water was contaminated, but too thirsty to care. He splashed some water over his open wound before standing again – although his legs almost traitorously fell underneath him. He sighed and tried to steady his breathing, before turning back to the path, still sure that they would be following him. _

"Harry, what's up?" Charlie was asking. Harry was tracing his fingers down a trees trunk, frowning as he remembered.

"We're closer than I thought," Harry muttered.

"…How close?" Charlie asked.

"Around a day," he said. Harry looked up and saw Aurors all by the lake, washing their clothes or their bodies, enjoying the stream. Ginny caught his eye and grinned, she was waist-deep in water, holding her shirt up to avoid getting it wet, he smirked back.

"A day?" Asked Dylan, so suddenly that Harry jumped slightly, Dylan ran his hands through his dripping locks, "woe, a bit on edge there?"

"Can you blame me?"

"You make a fine point… so anyway, a day? Are you sure?" Harry looked around and nodded,

"Quite sure, yes." Dylan nodded,

"Well! Better round up the troupes," he said, smiling. "Good news is… good,"

"Wow Dylan," George muttered, "really have a way with words don't you?"

"It's a gift." He wandered back over to the lake, "ladies, up out of the water, Vereor Nex may be closer than expected."

"Until we get lost again," muttered one of the Aurors. Harry cringed slightly at the thought of that happening. They heaved themselves out of the water – re-dressing and walking back over to the campsite. Harry saw Jack cast him a reproachful look as he passed. Ginny trailed at the end of the group. She watched the others go, then swiftly placed a kiss on Harry's cheek,

"Morning," she said, smiling.

"Everyone is so happy today," Harry observed.

"Aren't you?"

"About some things," he said, cupping her cheek in his palm, "not so much about others. They're still out there." Ginny's face turned serious,

"I know, but we're almost there," she said, but then caught Harry's expression, "Harry, stop feeling guilty about leaving them… it's because of you that they will be able to return home safely." Ginny half-smiled and took a step to leave, Harry placed a hand on her waist to stop her,

"This Jack thing," he muttered, "there's only so long I can last." Ginny's smile once again disappeared,

"I know," she clasped his hand firmly for a moment, then disappeared, leaving Harry to ponder his thoughts.

* * *

_Hey! Thankyou so much for all the reviews last chapter – it seems everyone was quite relieved that they finally got together. _

_I'll be updating faster and faster towards the end because I'm on holidays soon. Plus I've already written some of it. _

_So yep! Let me know what you thought of this installment :D _

_Pheonixxsong_


	21. Abandonment

**CHAPTER 21**

**Abandonment **

Harry was gritting his teeth so hard it felt as if a plate of steel had grown between them. He stared at the fork in the road, sure that any minute the answer would come to him. The Aurors were attempting to be patient, and failing. They shifted behind him, scuffing the dirt with their heels like children who didn't get their way. He could feel their growing annoyance getting heavier and heavier on his back as he stared at the earth ahead of him. The paths were surrounded by thick bushels of tall trees so it was impossible to see where any of them remotely led. All Harry could make out was that the right path moved downwards and curved whilst the other two ran up, the middle one going steeper whilst the left twisted away. No matter what he did, he couldn't think of which way to go.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, which made him jump slightly.

"Do you have any idea?" Ginny asked, Harry shook his head slowly.

"Maybe we could split up," Dylan suggested, he was close to the right path, staring down it with mild interest.

"But we split up and two thirds of us won't get there," muttered George.

"I'd have to agree with Dylan," Jack said, "and besides, maybe those other two paths meet up somewhere."

"I doubt it Jack," Harry grumbled, more to himself.

"And what's worse," George continued, "is that there is only one Harry. So if either of those two groups end up at Vereor Nex they're going to have no idea how to find Ron or Hermione,"

"No offense, but we're not particularly doing the most fantastic job of that right now," Jack replied, Harry shot him a glare and he raised his hands in defence.

"One thing is for certain," a male Auror with messy brown hair and a pointed, angular face muttered, "we're not going to get anything from just having Potter praying that he'll suddenly remember."

"Yeah, well I'd like to see how well you would do in a position like this," Harry spat.

"I'd certainly do a better job than just watching the day go by," the Auror continued, stepping forward. "What happened to the fact that you were so sure Vereor Nex was only one day away? We started walking around three hours ago, who's to say we didn't make a wrong turn? It's the blind leading the blind." These words sent doubt into Harry's chest, after recognising the campsite he was sure that they would be close, that places would seem more familiar – but the more he trudged on the more alien his surroundings appeared.

"I _don't_ know," Harry said quietly. Taking this as surrender the Auror continued, apparently fuelled by his own words,

"So basically, we could be anywhere right now, and we have no way to tell any differently."

"We just have to be patient," Ginny said, jumping in, "we're getting there…"

"Yes, but we're still not completely convinced… You're probably saying this just because he's _Harry Potter_, right?"

"I trust him," Ginny said defiantly.

"You might have this kind of absolute faith in him, but we certainly don't." The first male Auror continued, Harry turned around, raising his eyebrows. "As far as we're concerned he's just a man with a bunch of scars. He could have just been on drugs the entire time and Vereor Nex was a hallucinogenic side-effect…" Harry swallowed, seeing in his minds eye the golden liquid he used to diminish pain. Ginny fell silent, he was sure she was thinking the same thing. "This whole ordeal is probably a waste of time! I could be back at the Ministry…"

"_Doing what?_" Harry yelled, unable to keep his anger in check.

"Anything other than just wandering around in the wilderness!"

"Then leave!" Harry replied, stepping forward. A few Aurors took a hesitant step back, "all you people have done so far is complain and whisper behind your backs about what is happening."

"We've had to bury our friends!"

"You're Aurors, get used to it! _People die!_"

"But these ones didn't have to! And that's blood on your hands!" Harry walked up to the man and grabbed his shirt, staring at him with a crippling glare.

"Those Aurors who died," he muttered, warning lacing his words, "were due to the Death Eaters."

"Yes," the Auror replied, shoving Harry firmly in the chest so that he would release his grip, "and who was the one who lead us into their trap?"

"I would have to agree," one of the other Aurors said matter-of-factly. "This trip has been nothing but disaster." The first Auror leaned in as if he were telling a secret.

"You're a murderer Harry Potter." Harry couldn't help it, white-hot fury rose in his chest and he lunged at the Auror, making his fists meet any flesh that was close enough. The Auror fought back, kneeing Harry in the gut and striking a well-aimed blow on his chin, making it throb in unexpected pain. Everyone acted at the same time, pulling the two off each other. George and Jack had a firm grips around Harry's arms as he fought against them.

"GO THEN!" Harry yelled at the Auror, "all of you leave!" The man was being restrained by three Aurors.

"He doesn't mean it!" George called, "he doesn't! Just stay with us – we'll get there, we need every fighter we have."

"You have too much faith in him."

"I have just enough." George replied, loosening his grip around Harry's arms. "We need all of you're help! All of you. You are trained in magic and fighting and I understand that it is frustrating to have very little idea of what is happening and where you are going – but you just have to trust Harry, and keep going for a bit longer." The Auror grit his teeth,

"The Ministry has sent all the best fighters on this trip… back there they have almost no one. They have us walking around in circles and staring at paths! Can you imagine the havoc that could be erupting at the Ministry right now?"

"They had a good reason for sending away the best fighters," Harry said, trying to keep calm.

"I don't see it," the Auror spat, looking Harry up and down, and with that, he turned and walked away. The other Aurors watched him go, looks of uncertainty etched across their faces.

"Anyone else?" Harry challenged. A few more turned and left without a word, one only pausing to mutter _'sorry.' _

"We took an oath!" Dylan called out to them, "we were going to abide by the Ministry's best interest –,"

"And we _really_ seem to be doing that right now," the man replied sarcastically, turning around. The other Aurors who had decided to leave stopped behind him, separated from the group.

"We've had people die before!" Dylan continued, "what you are doing right now is cowardly and stupid. We're meant to be fighting for the greater good, and that's what we're going to do. We shut down Vereor Nex, and we might put an end to this whole Death Eater threat once and for all." Dylan fell silent and stared at the Aurors. The man who had originally questioned Harry raised his eyebrows, then turned around and left without another word.

"You can't just let them go!" Charlie said, turning to Harry, "get them back."

"How do you propose I do that? They want to leave, they can leave. We can survive without them."

"I wouldn't be too sure," Charlie muttered. "You know where to find us!" He called out to them, but he got no response, so Ginny tried.

"Don't think the Minister won't hear about this when I get back! You will have a lot of explaining to do!" Again, no response.

Harry pushed his fingers against his eyes; the group had a hole in it now. He felt sick in his stomach as the three words '_you're a murderer_,' echoed through his head.

"Are you okay?" Asked Ginny, hand resting comfortingly on his shoulder. Harry nodded vaguely. "It wasn't your fault, the attack…"

"I know," Harry lied. The remaining Aurors stared at him, apparently feeling the weight of the others absence as much as Harry was.

"Thankyou," Harry muttered to them, swallowing a constriction in his throat, "thankyou for staying…" they nodded courteously in response.

"Was Vereor Nex on a hill?" Jack asked, suddenly.

"What?" Harry asked, he had forgotten altogether about the fork in the road.

"Was it on a hill?" He repeated, Harry shook his head,

"No, why?"

"We should go right," said Jack, pointing down the pathway.

"What makes you so sure?" Harry asked, frowning. Jack flicked hair out of his eyes,

"It's the only path that seems to stay flat, the other two move upwards…" Harry nodded, but he was unsure, and he felt a desire to stay. Maybe the Aurors would change their minds, come to their senses? As soon as he picked a direction to go, there was a great possibly they would not be able to find them again. Harry looked back down the path, but was now unable to see the Aurors who had left. He contemplated suggesting they stay where they were for the rest of the day – but that wouldn't work. It was still daylight, and they had a great deal of distance to go.

Harry watched Jack, he didn't seem surprised by the Aurors departure, in fact, he wasn't displaying much emotion at all. Harry nodded vaguely and began walking down the right path, keeping his eyes on Jack.

The path had a green glow to it as sun shone through the thick trees; they had to step over multiple logs and branches to make their way along. The path itself wasn't really a path, it was merely a dirt strip created, most likely by travellers… and even then it didn't feel as if anyone had been down there for months. The further they moved down the track, the more worried he was that nothing seemed familiar to him. Naturally, he blamed Jack. Why did he suggest _this _path? And, more importantly, why did Harry listen to him? Suddenly, the group came to a roadblock. A massive tree blocked the path, it's strong, dark trunk the size of a boulder.

"If a tree falls down in the middle of the forest, and no one is around to hear it…" George muttered, looking at it,

"Yes, it makes a sound," Ginny replied.

"But how can you be sure?"

"Put a monitor in the forest, be on the other end, away from the tree… and it'll still make a sound."

"…Touché," George said. He placed his foot onto a branch and pulled himself up on top of it. Then, hesitantly, jumped down. The others were quick to follow, Jack offered Harry his hand as he ascended the tree – but Harry ignored it, grabbing Ginny's hand instead to help her up, she muttered a breathless thankyou. They managed to have a short, quick conversation as they jumped down,

"Are you sure you're okay? That was pretty rough what happened back there," Ginny said.

"I'm fine, honest. I'm just hoping we went the right way…"

"We'll find out sooner or later, do you recognise anything?"  
"No…"

"Well, we'll keep going, see what happens." Harry nodded in response,

"Oh hey," he said, "you've got something in your hair." He walked close to her and pulled the twig out, making sure he brushed his hand lightly over her cheek as he pulled away, she smiled at him.

"Thankyou,"

"Don't mention it…" he replied, smirking before setting off on a walk again. Walking made Harry get lost in his own thoughts; it became automatic, one foot falling in front of the other. Often they all walked in comfortable silence, not feeling the need for words. He wondered what the Aurors behind him were thinking; did they wish they had gone with the others? Did _they _think he was responsible for the deaths? He sighed, running a hand absentmindedly through his hair.

The path didn't change again for a number of hours, it would have seemed as if they were going in circles if they hadn't been going downhill slightly with every step. It was only when the shadows grew long and they found themselves squinting in the darkness that they decided to stop and set up camp. Harry didn't express his concerns of being lost to anyone else, he too afraid of the other Aurors disappearing – of people looking at him with disappointed eyes.

They decided to camp on the path, to avoid losing it. As Aurors stood around, muttering spells and watching the air ripple as they took effect, Harry set up the tents with the others. It was short, easy work, which often made conversations spark over the mundane chore.

"Harry, I've been meaning to ask you…" Ginny had began. Harry looked up,

"About what?" He pushed a tent peg into the ground with his shoe.

"The day you escaped," she muttered timidly. Harry looked down at the dirt,

"You've already asked that," he replied, clasping his hands in front of him before walking over to a nearby log to sit on.

"But you didn't answer," Ginny said, joining Harry. George, Charlie, Dylan and Jack seemed to have heard the conversation starting so came close – wanting to hear Harry's story as much as Ginny. "If you don't want –," Ginny began,

"No," he said, rubbing the back of his neck, "it's fine… you should know." Harry looked up at the others and saw that they were staring at him intently. His eyes lingered on Ginny; her expression urged him to proceed. He picked up a twig off the ground and snapped it in half.

We made two minutes," he whispered.

"_Harry_!" He could see Ron's hand reaching forward as the body was dragged backwards, his eyes widened in fear and he scratched his nails into the dry earth, making his hands red and raw.

"Harry?" A voice snapped him back into reality, he looked up and saw that the others were still staring at him – he cleared his throat.

"We had been planning for a month," he remembered "I believe that if we didn't have that hope, we never would have survived as long as we did. We could hear everyone dying around us… in the different cells," he clenched his jaw, "you always know when it's their last scream…" he whispered, "It's the loudest, as if they know they're dying and need to get out all the noise they would have created if they had lived those extra years. Then it stops – abruptly – and they go limp… and you just know that there's another cell vacant."

"That's horrible," Ginny muttered almost inaudibly.

"Ron, Hermione and I had been planning. We knew that the Death Eaters still had our wands – because we once overheard them talking about storage…"

* * *

"_Digger needs a wand, his broke," the other Death Eater laughed,_

"_What did he do this time? Sit on it again?" _

"_Something like that," the first chuckled. "So he was looking to get one from storage," _

"_Well, tell him to come talk to me, it's my floor anyway."_

"Our _floor," the first corrected. The second Death Eater flicked his forehead with his finger,_

"_Idiot," he muttered whilst the other rubbed the sting away. "He'll need to be the one doing the killing so that he can get the wand to work for him,"_

"_Yeah, I know the drill. I'll let him know."_

* * *

_  
_

"That conversation," Harry muttered, "was the beginning, we replayed it over and over…" he smiled for a moment. "Hermione became Hermione again… because she had something to do, something to think about other than impending torture and death."

* * *

"_Keys, is what we need," Hermione muttered, back against her cell. "We can get them the same way we did last time." _

"_Right," Harry said._

"_They all have a set on them," she continued, "so the next one of us to go on the table has to get them. But, don't make it obvious that you've taken them."_

"_They'll know though," Ron muttered, "I mean, they'll need those keys sometime today." _

"_Exactly," Hermione said, "that's why as soon as we have our wands we're going to have to escape. No time for waiting."_

"_Do you think they have our other stuff… my sword? Our clothes?" Harry asked, Hermione shrugged then winced – as if she had forgotten for a moment about her injuries. _

"_I have no idea," she muttered, rubbing her shoulder blade. "We can only hope… but I wouldn't hold your breath." _

"How_ are we going to escape, though?" Ron asked. Hermione pointed at Harry,_

"_Harry, to your right there's a window." _

"_Yes, made of solid iron," he said, knocking his fist against it. _

"_We'll have our wands by then." _

"_But it's a huge drop!" Harry said, standing up on one leg because his left had a particularly cruel gash in it. He looked down at the earth below; it was enough of a drop to give anyone with a slight fear of heights jelly legs._

"_We could apparate on the way down?" Ron suggested._

"_But we can't apparate in here, how could we do it out there?" Reminded Hermione,_

"_Yes, I'm not particularly willing to take that chance," Harry mumbled, still looking down the side of the black building. "Wait, we could… jump," he said, "there is a cement ledge along the window… if we walked about seven feet to the left there's a roof we could jump onto. Of course, if we don't make that roof we die." Ron gulped, _

"_Then what?" _

"_Then we're going to have to improvise, because I can't see anything from here," he replied, cursing the bars._

* * *

_  
_

"So you had tried to escape before," Ginny asked. Harry nodded, "what else did you try?"

"Everything… but all the effective escape plans we thought of required a wand or a weapon of some kind – and we assumed that our wands had been snapped – our possessions sold on. We gave up after about the fifth failed escape attempt because of how badly we were punished after each try – we admitted defeat."

"You admitted defeat?" George asked, smiling, "as if."

"I was ready to die," muttered Harry, the smile disappeared from George's face. "I just wanted out of there so badly, for them to use the Killing Curse on me, I just wanted it to stop… but that was until we heard about storage, and we saw a plausible way to escape. The kind of escape that beats trying to wrestle off four armed Death Eaters with our bare hands…" Ginny nodded solemnly,

"What happened next?" Harry shut his eyes, as if he could see the scene playing out in his head.

"I was the next one on the table, so it was my responsibility to get the keys."

* * *

"_Eeney, Meeney, Miney, Mo," the Death Eater mused, pointing at each of their cells with long, slender fingers. Harry found himself wondering how this woman came to be a Death Eater, stuck in a place like this, taking joy from pain. She was pretty in an odd-looking way, with sunken-in cheeks and wide eyes. Her finger rested on Harry, "looks like we have ourselves a winner!" She giggled, "time to take our prize."_

"_I'll pass, thanks." Harry said. The woman withdrew keys from her pocket and stuck it in the lock, turning it until they all heard a distinctive click. Harry watched carefully as she placed them back into her robes. Harry stayed at the back of the cell as the door opened. "Get him boys," the woman said, addressing the other two Death Eaters in the room. Their names were Digger and Kurt, they 'assisted' when the prisoners refused treatment. They now clasped Harry by both arms, dragging him forward. Harry tried to fight them off but he knew it was no use; they were larger and stronger than he was. They reminded him somewhat of Crabbe and Goyle, which entertained him. Digger and Kurt threw Harry onto the stone table in the centre of the room, securing him to it with ties before they left the room, with the parting remark of,_

"_Have fun!"_

_The woman Death Eater, ran her hand up Harry's body, he flinched away, she tutted, _

"_Oh no dear! Don't fight." Harry looked to his right and saw Ron and Hermione staring at him, the same look of concern he always saw when he was in this position. The Death Eater opened Harry's shirt, _

"_Ooohh," she said, touching Harry's sores, he hissed in air through his teeth, "I see someone went a bit rough on you last time, poor dear." She smiled, "I'll tell you what, you tell me how to bring the Dark Lord back and I'll spare you the pain." _

"_As I tell you, every time," Harry said through gritted teeth, "he's dead, there is no way to bring him back!" The Death Eater's eyes sparked in anger, as if she were surprised at his retort._

"_There is," she spat, "there has to be!" Her cruel expression suddenly diminished and died, replaced by an unnervingly cheerful smile, "but if that's how you really feel." The woman pulled out a box of matches from her pocket, "I found these the other day," she said, striking one until it lit-up. She dropped it onto Harry's bare chest, he growled in agony, trying to move away from the fire yet unable to. The match went out, but the incredible sting remained._

* * *

_  
_

"I tried to look for the keys," Harry said to them, "but I couldn't see any… she wore long, black robes, it was impossible to see any pockets."

"They… dropped lit matches on you?" Charlie asked, horrified.

"I didn't get all these scars from nothing."

* * *

_Harry shut his eyes tight as another match burnt black, the woman was walking along the table, he opened his eyes to watch her. _

"_That's better Harry, I much prefer it when I can see the pain in your eyes." She leant against the table, her hair falling in front of her face – that's when Harry heard it – the slight ring of keys coming from the right side of her robes. She walked around him dreamily, stopping at his side. Harry fought against the restraints around his arms, finding that he could only move from his elbow. _

_She was at arms reach, if only he could reach into her pocket… he was so focussed that he didn't realise that she had dropped another match on his chest until it hit. Again, he groaned in agony, forgetting his search for a moment. The woman placed a finger on the new burn and twisted – digging her fingernail in to prolong the pain. _

_Harry looked over again at Ron and Hermione; they clung to their bars, heads pressed against the iron, watching with sheer terror etched on their faces. They had to get out of there. Harry again focussed his attention on getting the keys. Slowly, whilst keeping his eyes on the woman – he reached inside her pocket and felt it, hard metal pressed against his fingers. He wrapped one finger around the key ring and pulled softly. The keys rattled, a sound that made Harry stop dead for a moment, but the woman did not seem to notice. She had pulled a silver knife from no where and was now tracing it down Harry's torso, not pressing hard enough for it to rip at his flesh. Harry ignored his own fear, and the feel of the knife and quickly pulled they keys out, clutching them in his hand, trying to make them invisible to the Death Eater._

* * *

_  
_

"I had to get through the rest of that before I could get back to my cell," Harry continued. "She enjoyed pain too much, liked to make patterns out of my cuts…" Harry grimaced and unbuttoned his shirt to show them; down his side there were long, curvy white scars.

"So what happened next?" Dylan asked, he had taken a seat next to Ginny. "You had the keys now…"

"Well, as soon as she put me back into my cell we went to work," Harry muttered. "My wounds were still open so I didn't particularly feel like running, but there wasn't much I could do… it was then, or never."

**To be continued…**

* * *

**  
**

_I had to break this chapter up, it was getting wayyy too long. I didn't know where to break it, that's why there is a rather abrupt cut. There's so much that is going to happen in the next chapters – it'll be very interesting, I promise you. Plus, I'm on holidays after Thursday, and I've also written some later chapters so updates will be quicker! Sorry about the breaks for whenever there is a change between memory and real-life... I wasn't going to do it, but I thought just having italics would be confusing. _

_I've spent a lot of time on this chapter, so let me know what you think! Press the awesome review button… of awesomeness_

_Haha. _

_Exam study now! (blegh)_

_Pheonixxsong _


	22. The Fingertips of Freedom

**CHAPTER 22**

**The Fingertips of Freedom**

"_You did it Harry!" Hermione said in an excited whisper. "Open your door!" Harry clasped his side with one hand and walked up to the cell door. There were several keys on the ring, he pressed himself against the iron bars and hooked his arm around to the front – feeling for the lock with his fingertips. Then, hurriedly, he inserted one key after another,_

"_Quick, quick!" Ron encouraged. _

"_I'm trying to be!" Harry argued as he tried the third, the forth – getting more and more frustrated as each refused to move in the lock. The fifth key was the charm, Harry fiddled with it until it clicked and the door swung open. He stood still for a moment, almost convinced it were a trick. _

"_Harry, us!" Hermione reminded, pointing to her own door. Harry ran out of his cell and went to Hermione's, then Ron's. They burst from them; Hermione threw her arms around Harry, then Ron. _

"'_Mione, we're not out yet," Harry reminded, although he hugged her back._

"_Oh, right, sorry." She said, her matted hair falling in her face. They walked timidly over to the door, Harry searched with his eyes for a keyhole, but there was none. Instead, all there appeared to be was a small grimy window at the very top of the door. Harry looked through it and scanned the outside corridor with his eyes. He could only see one Death Eater standing guard outside their room – The Death Eater was leaning against the door and casually flicking his wand at the air in front of him, causing small burst of smoke to emerge from the tip. Without a second thought, Harry knocked on the glass,_

"_What are you doing?" Hermione asked, trying to pull him away from the window, "they'll see you!"_

"_That's the point," Harry said, knocking again. Hermione and Ron exchanged glances of scepticism as the Death Eater turned and saw Harry, eyes widening in surprise. Harry watched as the man held his wand in his fist before opening the door with a great, strained effort. _

_Harry recognised the Death Eater as Kurt – one of the men who had taken Harry from his cell just minutes before. Harry took this as an advantage – after all, whilst Kurt had troll-like arms and a brute strength he was very dim-witted and easily fooled. Harry grabbed Ron and Hermione's arms and pulled them behind him. He could feel his heart beating faster, his fingers tingling in anticipation. He had no idea if this would work, or if he even had it in him. _

_Kurt entered the room, a spell mingling on his lips. But before he could finish Harry punched him as hard as he could across his face. The Death Eater stood stunned for a moment, mouth opening and closing as if confused. Ignoring the pain that had spread up his arm in the first punch, Harry did it again before grabbing the man's wand, which was held slackly in Kurt's hand. Kurt was furious, his huge arms swung at Harry, knocking him to the floor with a painful blow. Harry swung the wand around and pointed it directly at Kurt's chest, _

"_Stupefy!" Harry yelled. The sound of the spell felt odd on his lips, it had been so long since he had uttered one. The Death Eater fell to the ground heavily, mouth agape. _

"_Woe…" Ron said, coming to Harry's side and helping him up, "that was brilliant." Harry shook his hand,_

"_That hurt," he muttered, massaging his knuckles where red blotchy marks had started to develop._

"_Guys, someone's coming," Hermione said. Harry listened, and sure enough muffled voices were being carried down the hallway. _

"_What was that?!" said a woman's voice,_

"_Did you hear something?" Asked a man, their voices were getting closer. Ron widened his eyes and opened the door, glancing quickly left and right._

"_Harry, Disillusion!" Hermione said, "it's our only shot. We have a w-wand…" she stopped for a moment and swallowed, "we have a wand, we should be able to. _You _should be able to." _

"_But the spells are weak, look, Kurt's already getting up..." He pointed to the floor where the man had started rubbing his eyes. "Stupefy!" Harry said again, knocking him out. "There's no way I could perform a good Disillusion charm like this."_

"_You have to… _win_ the wand," Hermione said quickly. Harry raised his eyes to her,_

"_Honestly?"_

"_I'll have to agree with Hermione…" muttered Ron, his eyes darted to the door, "and we don't have much time to argue! In the end, this is just one less Death Eater who is going to be hunting us down." The voices outside were louder, and seemed to have multiplied. _

"_I know you don't like it Harry, but we have to do it!" Hermione said, she looked at the door, "just… do it quick!" Harry took a deep breath. He didn't know why the concept of killing Kurt scared him so much… perhaps it was because he had never tortured the three of them – he had never seemed to be a threat. Or maybe it was the concept of killing itself, using the spell he always wanted to avoid. _

"_Harry, just do it, or I will." Ron said, face set, determined – extending his hand towards Harry in an offering. _

"_No," Harry replied firmly, turning to Kurt – who had already begun to move again. Harry swallowed and pointed the wand at Kurt's chest – forcing himself to believe that this was the right thing to do. _"Avada Kedavra!"_ Harry yelled. There was the disgusting flash of a familiar green before Kurt became completely still. The three of them stood there in shock, staring at the corpse. _

"_Disillusion Harry," Ron reminded just as a loud 'this way!' Was heard down the hall, Ron took a scared glance at the door. Harry turned to Ron and Hermione and rapped the wand on Hermione's head. Harry noticed that the wand had become much stronger now as Hermione disappeared like a chameleon to her surroundings. Harry then turned to Ron and did the same, just as the Death Eaters burst through the door. There were several of them, Harry turned to where he knew Ron and Hermione were and mouthed 'go!' before turning to the Death Eaters – whose wands all pointed directly at his chest._

"_He killed Kurt!" One of the men stated, bending down to examine the body. _

"_Get him!" Said the woman who had tortured Harry earlier that day. Her eyes scoured the room, "and find the other two!" _

"_Stupefy!" Harry yelled quickly, a Death Eater dropped to the floor. Two Death Eater's held onto his arms tightly, he kneed one hard in the chest then tapped himself on the head. The effect was almost immediate, the feeling of a liquid-like substance running down his neck to his torso. Harry pushed off the Death Eater who still held tightly onto his arm and prayed that Hermione and Ron had found safety. The Death Eater's were scouring the air with their eyes now, Harry slowly backed away, hoping to somehow get around the group without them noticing. _

"_Guard the door!" The woman cried, "they don't get out." Immediately two of the men stood in front of the doorway – shielding it with their large bulk. _

"_Potter!" She continued, stepping around the room, "I know you're in here, even if you've made yourself hidden." Harry wanted to throw spells at her and the others – but he knew that as soon as he did his location would be given away and he would be taken down. His heart was beating rapidly in his chest – they were so close to escaping, Harry wondered if this was how it was going to end, when freedom was so close to their fingertips. _

_The woman was waving her arms in front of her face, as if she were batting away an imaginary fly, before she swung her wand around in frustration – sending out a wave of spells, which rocked the foundation under their feet and missed Harry by inches. One of them hit a Death Eater and he fell to the ground unconscious. Harry took this moment of lapsed attention and jogged quickly to the door, stepping over Death Eaters as they looked over the victim. _

_Harry only just managing to squeeze past the two men guarding the door – who looked at each other – believing that they had accidently bumped sides. The corridor was long and reasonably narrow – it appeared symmetrical on either side, doors stretching left and right with only letters and numbers as a differing factor between them. The walls were dark iron, almost black – as if charcoal had been rubbed on the metal. _

_Harry turned left and ran, trying to make as little noise with his feet as possible. Luckily for him, the hallway was deserted – all the Death Eaters on the floor seemed to have gone into their room to assist. _

"_Ron!" Harry called in a loud whisper, "Hermione!" He felt hands grab him out of nowhere and pull him to the wall. _

"_This way!" He heard Ron's voice say, pulling him along the corridor. _

"_I have to say," came Hermione's voice to the right of Harry, "this charm you've put on us is really good!" Harry looked down at his own hands, he could only see the floor beneath them. _

"_Thanks," he replied._

"_If the wands that strong…" Hermione continued as they walked swiftly, "maybe we should just head back? See if we make it with one wand?" Harry opened his mouth to retort but it was Ron who ended up responding,_

"_No way," he said firmly, "Harry might be good, but there's no chance he will be able to defend all three of us if we have Death Eaters running at us." Harry nodded then remembered he was invisible and muttered, _

"_He's right…" Hermione seemed to shrug beside him,_

"_It was just a suggestion." Harry sighed, _

"_We don't even know where this storage place is," he commented. They were going blindly and it unnerved him – he clutched the unfamiliar wand in a fist._

"_We're improvising," Hermione answered. _

"_Fantastic." Harry found himself unable to help limping, as pain ran all the way up his leg and side with every step. Ron and Hermione were struggling too, he could hear their pain in their breathing and frustrated groans as their limbs refused to move with the ease they were used to. Harry even felt Hermione pause for a second at a dozen paces down the hallway, clutching her side with agony stretching across her features._

"'_Mione, we have to keep moving!" Ron reminded her when she suddenly stopped again. He walked up to her, Harry could only just hear what he was saying, "I feel it too, but we're going to feel pain a lot more if we don't get out of this place." Hermione took a deep breath before she continued walking, now next to Ron – Harry wondered if they were clasping hands. _

"_We're never going to find this place," Ron said, looking at each door that they passed, "there are doors everywhere and they all look the same… how can we tell them apart?" Harry looked behind them quickly, half-expecting to see figures behind them; but the hallway was still quiet. He wondered if the Death Eaters were still searching for them in the room, he smirked, finding that thought amusing._

* * *

_  
_

"So how did you find it?" Asked George, "the place where all your wands were kept…"

The group was all listening intently as Harry told the story, leaning towards him with sincere interest. But with each sentence Harry spoke the words seemed harder, as if his throat was closing upon itself – recognising that the sentences and letters that would soon flow from his mouth would not be pleasant.

"There were no stairwells," Harry said, remembering. "There was no apparent way to get down the building… I tried apparating with Ron and Hermione, but naturally it didn't work." He scratched his stubbled cheek for a moment, "the wands were kept in a vault. It took us what felt like hours to find, but it couldn't have been long," he frowned. "You know when you are in a life or death situation, time appears to go quicker and slower at the same time? Like in dreams when you're running from the bad-guy and you can only go in slow-motion no matter how hard you try to make your legs work?" The group nodded, all except Jack rather, who was staring at Harry with skepticism. Harry ignored this and continued speaking, "soon, the Death Eaters were hot on our trail again… so we found ourselves running through the corridors."

"But you were injured," Jack commented.

"It wasn't easy to run, no." Harry replied, raising his eyebrows. Jack scoffed and Harry looked at him, "is there something you want to say?" He challenged.

"It just seems like you are making yourself sound more heroic than you actually were,"

"Jack," Ginny warned, trying to silence him with a look.

"No Gin, let him talk."

"Vereor Nex," Jack muttered, "is… or _would be_ harder to escape than Azkaban I'd assume."

"Oh you've been there have you?" Harry asked sarcastically, "care to share your description?"

"No, I haven't been there," Jack replied defensively, "I'm just guessing,"

"Well then, you can't correct me. I wasn't heroic. Ron was more heroic than me," Harry said, addressing George, Charlie and Ginny now, who smiled slightly with pride. "I was a coward, actually," Harry continued, now staring at his hands,

"Continue the story, Harry," Ginny said in a soft tone, "tell us what happened." Harry nodded vaguely, noting that he was getting sidetracked.

"The vault was quite far away from our room – the place was like a maze… but we found it out of sheer luck. It was easy to spot from the outside, a large metal door differing from the rest… two Death Eaters guarded it, but I killed them… they didn't know where the spells were coming from, they had no chance." George looked up, surprised at Harry's matter-of-fact tone.

"I'm not proud about it!" He argued, "but it needed to be done."

* * *

"_Blimey," Ron muttered to Harry's right, staring at the dead Death Eaters. _

"_Are you okay, Harry?" Asked Hermione._

"_I'm fine, but we need to get through that door."_

"_Is this it?" Asked Ron, "are we sure?"_

"_Only one way to be," Harry replied. _"Alohomora!" _Nothing happened. Harry pulled on the handle a few times but it wouldn't budge. "I was afraid of this," he muttered, "now I'm going to have to make a lot of noise. They'll hear us," he looked down the corridor where he could hear faint yells and spells being fired. _

"Bombarda!" _Harry yelled. The door shuttered and seemed to fall a little from its hinges. _"Bombarda!" _He yelled again, once again it fell a little. _"Confringo!" _The door gave a large 'bang!' that echoed down the hall as it fell from its hinges and landed on the floor. Hermione squealed as the entire door fell almost on top of them. _

"_Quick," Ron said, racing inside, "they would have heard that." The room reminded Harry of the Room of Requirement, the place where he placed Snape's potions book, and later where they found the diadem. There were piles upon piles of wands, weapons and clothing._

"_How are we going to find anything in this mess?" Ron asked, stepping around the piles. He picked up a few wands before putting them down again. _

"_No idea," responded Hermione, doing the same. Harry took a glance towards the door, _

"_We're going to have to look quickly, if they get too close, just pick up any wand and use it." Harry walked down an aisle, his eyes scanning the wands to look for one that resembled his own. This, of course, was virtually impossible. It was looking for a needle in a haystack, only the needle looked like a piece of hay. _

_Harry picked up a fistful and threw one after another to the ground finding them too short, too long, to wide… he turned around to continue walking down the aisle – then spotted something in the periphery of his vision. There were several vials in a small glass closet, the contents of it shined like melted gold. Harry found himself fascinated; he walked over to it and grabbed all the vials in his hands – just as he heard Hermione's voice. _

_"Harry, come here!" Harry went in the direction of her voice as quickly as he could,_

"_What's wrong?" He asked. _

"_Nothing," she said, as he rounded the corner, but then she spotted what Harry held in his hand. "Where did you get that?" She asked, frowning._

"_Found it," he muttered, holding a vial to the light and squinting into it, "what is it?" _

"_It's like a restoration potion," Hermione said – her voice so matter-of-fact that Harry smiled. It was as if she were incapable of forgetting things she had learnt in class. "But it's addictive," she muttered, shifting away from it slightly. _

"_But if it has restorative properties… we kind of need it," Hermione clenched her jaw, Harry could tell this was against her morals._

"_You're right," she replied with a heaved sigh. Harry passed her one of the vials, then called out for Ron and gave him one as well. Harry removed the cork from the potion and drained it in one shot. The effect was immediate, a feeling of strength stretching over his muscles and into his wounds. It was like a massive bandaid on his pain._

"_Woah," Ron said, dropping his empty vial on the floor, "I feel good!" _

"_Still," said Hermione, "we can't take too much, you don't know what that stuff will do to you." They stood in silence for a moment before Hermione suddenly jumped as she remembered something, _

"_Harry, look!" She called, pointing up to the wall. Harry frowned,_

"_Look where?" He asked, "I can't see you, remember?" _

"_Up there, on the wall," she replied. Harry's eyes moved upwards – and there he saw it - glinting as if it had only just been polished was Godric Griffindor's sword._

* * *

_  
_

"Woah woah woah," said Jack, cutting Harry off and standing. "Why would the Death Eaters keep the sword? It's worth money, they should have sold it."

"But imagine if the sword landed in our hands…" replied Ginny, "we would have known Harry was still alive."

"What do you mean _should have?_" Harry asked,

"Could have," Jack muttered, "I mean _could _have."

"I'm not exaggerating anything," Harry said matter-of-factly, "this is what really happened."

"Jack, sit down," Ginny said as she rubbed two fingers in circles on her temple.

"As I was saying," Harry growled, shooting Jack a look, "the sword was on the wall. We managed to get it down with great difficulty – unfortunately just in time for the Death Eaters to see. The Disillusion Charm wasn't on the sword of course, so it became plainly obvious where we were." Harry rubbed the back of his neck, "we were lucky because there was only a few Death Eaters – they had split up it seemed… but they still managed to take the charm off all three of us…"

"So you were exposed," Charlie stated, and Harry nodded in response.

"Ron had gotten the sword down and was holding it in a fist, he looked really determined, but I wasn't sure what he was determined to do…"

* * *

_A spell was sent Ron's way but he managed to deflect it with the blade of the sword before he spun it in the air and sent it straight into the chest of the nearest Death Eater, who howled in pain. _

"_Get your things!" Ron ordered, swinging at the next Death Eater with incredible strength. Blood splattered the floor and Ron's front, but he kept going. Harry stunned a few Death Eaters,_

"Stupefy!" _He yelled, _"Stupefy!" _They hit and the Death Eater's hit the ground heavily. _"Petrificus Totalus!" _The Death Eater he aimed at froze as stiff as a board and joined his friends on the ground. Harry found his clothing close to where the sword was, they were very crumpled and smelt stale but Harry threw his long black jacket over his shoulders anyway, and pulled on the rest of his clothing. _

_He looked at Ron and Hermione and noticed they were changing out of their debilitating rags also with hurried fingers. Harry walked over to the wands nearest to where the rest of their things were. He picked up a handful and looked through them, hoping to find Ron and Hermione a decent defence if they were, or rather _when _they were attacked again. Harry threw a couple on the ground but then paused at one of them. _

"_Ron!" He said, "Ron, look, is this yours?" He passed the wand to him and Ron looked it over with a furrowed brow before he smirked slightly and nodded. _

"_What about Hermione's?" _

"_Haven't found it yet," Harry replied, continuing his search. _

"_Don't bother, Harry," Hermione muttered, pushing her hair away from her eyes. "I can use one of these wands, I'm sure it will work fine. We don't have time to search." Her eyes darted around her feet and she picked a long, thin one off the ground. Hermione waved it in the air in front of her face, making a transparent blue orb appear in front of her – glowing as if it were full of fireflies. She lowered her wand and it disappeared, "this one will do." The three of them quickly stepped over the bodies, Harry distinctly heard Hermione take a sharp intake of breath as she stepped over the ones with blood oozing from them._

* * *

_  
_

"We found the way back to our room quite easily," Harry explained, "everyone seemed to be looking in other places for us so the hallways were deserted. When we entered our room again we made our way over to the window. I blasted it from the wall and rubble went everywhere – ,"

* * *

_A burst of cold air ran over the three of them, it took their breath away and made their ears ring. _

"_I'll go first," Harry announced. He stepped through the hole he had created, keeping a firm grip on the wall. The ledge had appeared larger by the window – in reality it was barely enough to keep his feet on. The moment he stepped onto it a brick gave way and Harry slipped. Hermione screamed as Harry fell onto the window he had just gone through. _

_The jagged edges of it pierced his flesh and he felt metal run deep into his side – he gasped in agony. Ron and Hermione went to help him but Harry stopped them shaking his head with a pained expression. He could feel the blood pulsating down his side as he pulled away from the window and stood once more. The blood-loss made him feel slightly woozy, but at the same time it gave him a feeling of drunken confidence. _

_Harry clasped his hand over the wound and then looked at it – now glinting crimson. He felt his way along the wall, holding onto any part of the building he could. Without ruining his balance, Harry looked down at the roof several feet below from where he was now standing. It was a decent drop, and if he misjudged the distance he had to leap, there was a gap that ran straight down the side of the building that would surely seal his demise. _

_Harry took a deep breath – it was now or never. With as much strength as he could muster, Harry leaped from the ledge – holding his breath until he landed safely on the roof, gasping slightly as he clung to it. He shut his eyes tightly for a moment, relishing the feeling of safety and feeling his heart rate slow to a steadier pace. He looked back down at his side, the wound still oozed blood, he tried sealing it shut with his wand but it refused to hold._

* * *

_  
_

"That was the injury you had when you came back!" Ginny said, "that one George asked me to heal."

"That's the one," Harry replied, subconsciously placing his hand over where the wound once was. "When I looked back up at Ron and Hermione I saw that they were now both on the ledge. Hermione was quite weak on her feet so Ron was helping her stay balanced. They too made it across okay, but it was from there that everything got a bit more difficult. We walked down the rooftop looking for something to help us down," Harry smirked a little, "I don't know what we were expecting – a ladder to appear?... There was no guttering along the roof either, we were basically trapped."

"So what did you do?" Asked Dylan.

"Vereor Nex is made up of a series of different levels," Harry said, holding up his hands to demonstrate. "We were on the top, I'm not sure how many levels up – and we had just jumped down to the next one," he lowered his hands down an inch. "It was like a huge staircase, only each step was a rooftop that could easy kill you… so, what we had to do was jump, just as we had the first time – down each level," Harry made a diagonal descending motion with his hand, "until we reached the bottom."

"Did any of you fall?" George asked, widening his eyes. Harry shook his head,

"We all slipped at certain points however. The rooftops were covered in thick, green, moss-like slime… it was difficult to get a grip."

* * *

_Hermione clung to the side of the roof, her chest pressed against it as she tried to hoist herself up to standing again. Her feet flailed on the roof's slippery surface, unable to get a grip. _

"_Ron!" She called, "Ron, help!" But Ron had already turned around to help her. He sat on the highest point of the roof, keeping one leg on the other side and grabbed her hands in his. With a great effort he pulled her up, clasping her around the waist until she was standing again. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief, "thanks," she said, rubbing her dirty front down with her palms._

"_Don't mention it," Ron said, "go ahead of me, I want to keep an eye on you." Hermione frowned slightly,_

"_I don't always need your help Ron, I am perfectly capable of managing myself."_

"_I know that 'Mione, but you've slipped like, four times now. You're not at your full strength… none of us are. Let me help you." Hermione clenched her jaw slightly but then nodded – awkwardly moving around Ron to get in front of him. _

"_Come on!" Harry encouraged, "not far now." Harry was on the edge of the roof; he looked down and felt the tingle of anticipation running around his palms and down his fingers. He was getting rather pale, the blood loss was making him woozy – but he knew if he told Ron and Hermione they would just worry, and that wouldn't help anyone. Harry felt water land on his cheek and he looked up, the sky was a dark grey – spitting rain down at them with increasing force. Harry took another leap, landing heavily on the rooftop and causing his gut to crease in pain. _

"_You alright, Harry?" Came Hermione's voice, seeing Harry clutch his side and groan in agony. _

"_Yeah!" He replied through clenched teeth. He breathed out deeply, continued along the rooftop, hearing the familiar thump of Ron and Hermione landing behind him. He turned around to them, _

"_What now?" He asked._

"_What do you mean?" Asked Hermione, frowning, "just jump down again."_

"_There's nowhere to jump down to!" Harry argued, gesturing at the ground some ten feet below. "Nothing!" He cursed. Hermione and Ron went next to Harry, _

"_There's Death Eater's over there," Hermione said, pointing. "That must be the main entrance."_

"_It's not that far," Ron said, looking at the ground, "and it's all muddy – surely it'll make for a softer landing." Hermione looked down too and shook her head, _

"_It's not safe," she said._

"_It's not safe to stay up here either," Ron contended. Harry shifted his weight slightly, feeling warmth run down his hip. His head was buzzing and the air felt thin in his lungs._

"_Harry?" He heard Hermione's voice say, "are you okay?" _

"_Fine," he answered, although his vision was spinning and turning darker. He felt secure hands clasp his arms as his legs gave way underneath him. He hit the roof hard and rolled off it, Ron and Hermione's grip too weak to stop him. He blacked out as he hit the ground; the potions effects had diminished – leaving him to suffer the full weight of his injury. When he opened his eyes, Ron and Hermione were standing over the top of him. Hermione was supporting Harry's head, pouring gold liquid into his mouth which made him splutter and cough. Ron was attempting to heal the wound but was only making it a little better. _

"_What happened?" Harry asked, sitting up. _

"_You fell, passed out actually," Ron said, just as Harry felt a particularly bad bump on the back of his head. "Why didn't you tell us this was so bad? We could've helped,"_

"_How?" Harry asked, standing, "I didn't want to worry you." _

"_You know what made us worried? Seeing you pass-out and fall a great height. You're bloody lucky you landed on soft earth." Ron accused, standing also._

"_Stop fighting!" Hermione complained. "We can't deal with this right now."_

"_Sorry," Harry and Ron said almost immediately. _

"_How did you two get down here though?" Harry asked. _

"_I was kind of attached to you," Ron said, "when you went down I came soon after. Hermione jumped down, landed okay." _

"_Yeah, okay," Hermione said, pulling up her pants leg to show a graze that was bleeding down her shin. Harry grabbed Griffindor's hilt with his hand, _

"_So have you seen any Death Eaters?" _

"_Not just yet," Ron muttered, "they seem to be laying low." Harry looked around, all he could see was a wide forest stretching in front of him, it's trees thick and covered in vines._

* * *

_  
_

"I couldn't believe it," Harry said, smiling as he remembered, "we were free, we were outside – and alive…" he looked up at Ginny, "there were the trees… and the grass – and the air! Everything was big, there was no metal bars, no blood on the walls, no screams." His smile suddenly slackened and disappeared, "of course we thought that the Death Eaters were looking for us elsewhere… that we had gone undetected,"

"And you hadn't," Ginny muttered, finishing his sentence for him – he shook his head,

"I knew, _I knew _it shouldn't have been that easy," Harry replied, feeling the familiar twinge of guilt clutch his gut, "I should've done something…"

"It wasn't you're fault Harry," Charlie said, but Harry ignored him and took a deep breath – his eyes turning glassy as he breathed out.

* * *

"_We have to keep moving," Harry reminded them as Ron and Hermione looked their surroundings. They nodded, clutching their wands so hard their already pale knuckles turned white._

"_Wait," Hermione said as they went to move off again, "we have to try apparating." Harry looked around swiftly then nodded, turning on the spot. Nothing happened._

"_Figures," Ron mumbled before they set off at a steady jog towards the forest. _

_Then, suddenly, as if they were in a dream, several Death Eaters surrounded them – they closed in with wands pointed. The one closest to them laughed,_

"_Did you really think it would be that easy?" She asked. _

"_We were hoping," Hermione replied, trying to keep her voice fearless and sarcastic._

"_We saw your handy-work by storage – I didn't think you had it in you,"_

"_You've got to do what you can," Ron replied through gritted teeth. Harry clutched the hilt of Griffindor's sword in his hand harder. _

"_But the point is, we knew you would get out here somehow. Harry Potter, the boy who lived – the boy who had nine lives…" she carried a laugh in her voice. "But of course those lives have to run up at some time," she raised her wand and Harry, Ron and Hermione did the same. "I guess today will do," she finished, grinning. _

"Stupefy!" _The Death Eater yelled – it hit Ron square in the chest and he was flung in the air before crashing down, unconscious. _

"Enervate!" _Harry yelled, pointing his wand at Ron, who began moving again – blinking rapidly as if regaining focus. _

"Stupefy!"_ Both Hermione and Harry yelled at the same time – their combined spell hit her and she was thrown backwards onto the grass. The Death Eaters roared in anger and threw their weight into the spells now. Harry quickly helped Ron to a wobbling stand as Hermione deflected spells that came their way. _

"Stupefy!" _She kept yelling, watching the occasional Death Eater drop to the floor. Harry dared not admit it – but they were sorely outnumbered. He knew how this would end up – back in their cell, tortured three times as much as usual. Would they survive? It seemed unlikely. He couldn't let this happen, not when they had felt freedom for the first time in years just moments before. _

"Crucio!" _The Death Eater's yelled – Hermione was unable to deflect them and so fell to the ground, clutching her gut as she rolled around, gasping in pain. _

"Sectumsempra!" _Harry roared, it hit and blood splattered the grass – the Death Eater fell, now accompanying Hermione in her yells. Harry felt arms grab him, but he pushed them off with all his strength – grabbing Hermione under her knees and back and hauling her up in his arms – he ran. Ron was close behind him; he could hear his breathing to his immediate right. _

_Unfortunately the Death Eaters were close behind him as well, too close for comfort. The tree trunks around them splintered and shook as spells hit them. Harry could even see the flashes of light in his peripheries as he ran. They only managed to run for what felt like several seconds before Ron tripped and fell – his head smacking painfully onto the ground. Harry put Hermione down to help him – blood was running down his chin and across his cheek – he tried to stand and run again but those few seconds were all the Death Eaters needed to get a firm grip around his arms. They pulled Ron backwards like a ragdoll, his eyes widened in fear. Ron put up a fight, kneeing them in the chest, pushing them with his arms – but he was outnumbered and was dragged backwards. _

"_No! RON!" Harry yelled, feeling others now grab him with increasing strength. Hermione fight was useless, she kicked them, struggled and flailed but all it seemed to do was increase their hold on her. Ron was gagged but he continued fighting, his last ounce of strength going into getting away. _

_He pushed two Death Eater's away, and for a moment it appeared as if he would get free – but then his legs were grabbed and he was dragged backwards. His fingernails dug into the dirt, as he pulled on roots and grass – hoping to stop. Hermione was being carried as if she was lying on her stomach, her fingers grappled with anything she could get her hands on. She dug her fingernails into the Death Eaters arms but their grip was vice-like. In a last futile effort she clung to a tree, hands red raw and bleeding. _

"_Harry, run!" She yelled, her eyes pleading. "Please! RUN!" Tears stained her cheeks as she was pulled away with a scream of pain. _

"_Hermione! Ron!" Harry called, as his own arms were pulled behind his back. _

"'_Arry!" Ron replied through the gag, he made a choking sound, "go!" Ron ordered, "GO!"_

"Stupefy!_" Harry yelled once more, stunning the Death Eater who had the tightest grip on him. He withdrew his sword and in one motion – stabbed the other Death Eater and ran as fast as his weak legs would carry him. He could hear the shouts from the Death Eaters as they followed him, their spells coming so close Harry could feel them pass. He ran, he ran until his legs gave out – until the cries behind him became so muffled it was as if he was hearing them underwater. All he could think of now was Ron, Hermione… had he done the right thing? He left them there. He should have tried harder. In a panting mess Harry stooped against a tree for a moment, eyes shut, breathes coming unevenly as a pain in his chest ran all around his ribcage._

* * *

_  
_

"I should have stayed with them," Harry now muttered to himself. The others were staring at him in shock – he could not read their expressions and feared it was disappointment or distain. "I'm sorry," he said now, feeling a hot tear run toxic down his cheek, he pushed it away, "I'm so sorry," he repeated. Harry stood and went to walk away, but was stopped as George said something,

"You did everything you could Harry," he said. "You made a call, if you stayed you would be back there with them – and you know it." Harry looked at George for a moment, then nodded – although he did not entirely believe him. He could see the other Auror's staring at him as he trailed back to the tent, and he wondered if they too had been listening to the story. Harry had hoped that revealing the story to his friends would make the guilt disappear slightly – but it burnt again, white-hot in his chest. It was suffocating. He disappeared inside the tent and began pacing the length of the room.

"Harry?" He heard Ginny's voice and looked up. He ran his sleeve over his eyes to dry his watered-down eyes. Ginny walked up to Harry and placed her arms around him. "You're so brave," she muttered, placing her head on his chest.

"I'm not," he stated firmly, pulling away. Ginny held him at arms length, and ran her hand down his cheek.

"You are, sometimes running is the best thing to do. It may not feel like it –,"

"It doesn't…" he looked around the room feeling distraught in his guilt. He shut his eyes for a moment and ran his hand through his hair as he felt emotions well up in his gut. Harry felt Ginny's hands forcing him to look at her,

"That must have been horrible for you," she whispered soothingly, "but we're doing what we can to move forward. We'll get there, you'll see," somehow those words coming through Ginny's mouth were enough to convince Harry that she was right. He took a deep breath and nodded,

"We'll get there," he repeated. Ginny hugged him, resting her head on his chest, her fingers moving into the crevices of his shoulder blades – hoping beyond all hope that they were right.

* * *

_I cannot even begin to explain how hard this chapter was for me to write… I considered giving up on the story altogether on this one. It was my roadblock of evilness, I'm so glad it's over. I'm really sorry for the delay – it's a very long chapter so that's another reason. It's like three chapters smooshed into one… but I didn't want this story to be four chapters long – you know? But I'm happy with how it turned out! I've read it through a few times, but I'm quite positive I've missed some grammar errors and such. If I have, please pretend they don't exist! :) _

_Thankyou for all reviews, please keep them coming! They are my fuel that keeps me writing and they just mean the world to me._

_And a big thanks to Christina – who listened to me whine and helped me with some ideas! :) _

_Pheonixxsong _


	23. Trickster

**CHAPTER 23**

**Trickster **

They were close now, so close… and for once, Harry knew it. There was an energy about the place, the kind of energy that made the hair on his skin stand on end, made him feel like someone was watching them. The others could feel it too, Harry often saw them rub the back of their necks or turn around with suspicious eyes, as if a stranger had just tapped them on the shoulder.

The sky was nearing darkness, and that didn't help. The long shadows stretched over all of them and made everyone's eyes appear dark and evil. What interested Harry the most, was how in the darkness – Jack took the lead. When Harry questioned him he merely stated: "we're going in a straight line Potter, it's not difficult." Yet his eyes were set on a destination Harry could not see. Ginny walked next to Harry, her gaze constantly met by him.

Suddenly, Jack stopped, and turned, his eyes glinting in the little sunlight.

"Welcome to hell," he said, grinning.

"I'm sorry?" George asked, smiling slightly – in a way that suggested that he didn't know whether it was a joke or not. With a grand gesture of Jack's arms, ropes flew from every direction and wrapped bindingly around each person of the group. Harry's arms were pinned to his side, he struggled against them, but that only made them tighten. Harry then realised that these were the binding ropes Ginny and George used on his whilst they questioned him.

"I find it interesting, really," Jack had continued.

"Find _what _interesting, Jack?" Harry asked, his voice strained in effort.

"I find it interesting how terribly gullible you all are," he mused. "Jack? You call me, Jack?" He laughed, "You're so easily fooled! Your Ministry, your Minister, even the beloved _Harry Potter_ couldn't see past me, what I am. I am not Jack. I do not serve the Minister," he laughed for a moment, full of snide cruelty, "I serve one and only." With that, Jack pointed to the sky with a finger.

"Who?" Harry asked, frowning and attempting to reach for his sword with his fingertips. "Voldemort? Tom Riddle? The _thing _I killed?" He noticed Ginny had remained completely motionless – her eyes were on Jack – her mouth agape in cold shock.

"You did not kill the Dark Lord! Such a thing is impossible. When he first fell we did not stay loyal, we do not make the same mistake again."

"When you say 'we,'" Ginny said, her voice was full of fear and anger, "you mean –,"

"My my, I always knew you were an idiot Ginny," he shook his head, "Death Eaters, my love, Death Eaters."

"But you don't have the Mark," she stated firmly. Harry noticed she was also reaching for her sword in her belt.

"Don't I?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.

"I've seen you, you don't." Jack pulled up a sleeve of his robe, revealing the white of his forearm; he pulled out his wand and pushed it hard against it, muttering an incantation under his breath. Like a river, black seemed to flow from the wand like ink, covering his forearm with shapes and patterns until it became the Dark Mark.

"Incantation," he explained, raising it for them all to see. He then sniffed and covered it again. "My real name is Roy, actually. They call me Trickster up here though."

"I don't understand how this is possible…" George said. One of his arms was partially out of the ropes, it sat awkwardly and looked painful.

"That's the thing," Trickster said, pointing at George. "It seems ridiculous! Impossible, no? So many flaws. Well, it happened, I did it… I'm amazing."

"And modest," Ginny shot. Trickster laughed,

"It's hard to be modest when you're marvellous. Death Eaters before have fooled you with disguise, 'Professor Quirrell', Severus, Barty Crouch Jr… but _none_ did it with the perfection I did…" he twirled his wand through his fingers.

"Severus wasn't yours," Harry stated firmly. "He was Dumbledore's… and he's greater than you'll ever be." Trickster ignored him, scratching his nose and looking for a moment at his watch. Harry reached for his sword with his fingertips, brushing past the hilt. Trickster looked up suddenly,

"No no, none of that!" He said, walking over to Harry. Trickster removed Harry's sword from his belt and secured it onto his own. "We don't _really _have time to kill, for me to tell how great I am, but you're not going anywhere so now is as good a time as ever."

"This will be the last moment that you'll be alive, so it's your only chance." Harry pointed out through gritted teeth. Trickster ignored him again.

"We knew Harry Potter was good at getting out of tight spots," he began, clearing his throat as if he were going to make a long speech. "So we decided to send someone down to… stand guard, I suppose, if anything went wrong. This person would report back to the Death Eaters by any means possible, whilst leading a double life. Big responsibility, as you can imagine." He smirked slightly, "I came down as a humble, wonderful man named Jack, and went around making friends with those Harry was near." He nodded, as if remembering. "They were initially all hostile towards me, it seemed your apparent death had taken a toll on them, and the trust they showed to strangers… I can't imagine why!" He laughed again.

"You're disgusting," Ginny said.

"Sticks and stones, my love."

"Stop calling me that."

"Okay babe." He cleared his throat again, "so, this is where Ginny came in. She was vulnerable, sad, emotional… really needed someone to lean on. So, who came by? Jack! The one she needed. He helped her get through her sadness and she grew to like him, then, apparently grew to love him," he smirked. "I have to say I quite liked you Ginny," he said, addressing her now. He came up close to her, and then kissed her forehead with his lips, she tried to move away but couldn't. Harry pushed as hard as he could on his restraints but couldn't move,

"Get away from her," he warned. Trickster raised his eyebrows at Harry before turning back to Ginny, tracing his hand down her jaw-line.

"You are beautiful and fiery, I like that in a woman. You kept me interested, made me believe my character more. Don't feel bad for loving my character Ginny, it wasn't hard – I was everything you wanted!" He grinned, "Although being nice to you wasn't always easy. Stubborn brat you can be… but I made my way through." He patted her on the cheek, but hard enough for it to not be a sign of affection.

"For years I had nothing to report. My character was getting boring, and I considered giving up and going back to Vereor Nex… perhaps by killing Jack, that would've been fun." He nodded. "But then, as if hearing my boredom, Potter escapes! Really amazing, I do applaud your effort," he clapped a few times. "Although, again, it seems it was just a matter of luck that kept you alive," Trickster sighed. "Originally, I was hoping that you would not get the Aurors involved… but you actually took my advice for once, and here they are!" He gestured at the Aurors with a wave of his hand.

"The initial plan was to ambush Harry in George's apartment. They would take him alive before anyone knew who he really was, and I figured you'd just believe the stranger had taken off… well, that failed." He ran a hand through his dark hair, "and I didn't realise you had already discovered who he was, that was also unfortunate. You shouldn't _lie_ Ginny!" He spat childishly. "So, we went off on our trip… I kept the Death Eaters informed of our position of course; also we had that tracking device…" he frowned, "it's a shame you removed it. And killed those Death Eaters!" He sighed.

"You weren't there in that battle…" Ginny remembered,

"Oh no, I was," Trickster said, "I was just on their side – cloaked, you couldn't see me." He was pacing back and forth now, "and then there was Bainsley, whilst you were questioning him he constantly looked over at me! Made everything very suspicious. I knew that he wanted me to help him, but that wouldn't have made much sense to my character, would it?!" Harry grit his teeth and looked over at the other Aurors. He noticed the hands of Dylan were fidgeting slightly in the ropes… in between his fingers sat a small serrated knife – and he was cutting away at the ropes, a millimetre at a time.

"So I spent most of my time convincing the Aurors behind your back, Potter, that you were bad news… that you weren't to be trusted… that they were needed elsewhere."

"That was _you?"_ Charlie asked, Trickster nodded.

"Yep, that was me. Wasn't easy work either… they were all 'we follow orders! We trust the Minister!' Etcetera etcetera… but eventually I got through, with a bit of a curse anyway! Take one and the rest will follow, as they say."

"Imperius Curse…" Harry muttered to himself.

"Right you are. Unfortunately, some of you didn't take to the bait," he shot the Aurors a glare. "Still, you were weakened, that was something…" he nodded,  
"another thing I had to do," he continued, "was constantly point you in the right direction. Potter, you really are geographically challenged you know… so many wrong turns! Did you notice that it was almost always me who _somehow _led you in the right direction? Huh? No! You didn't, because I'm sneaky." Trickster grinned with pride, his beautiful face now showing signs of menace. He walked over to Harry, "but apparently, you think you're sneakier than me!"

"I'm sorry?" Harry asked, confused.

"Ginny, perhaps?" Trickster raised his eyebrows at her, "think you can be sneakier than me too?" Ginny also looked confused. "I don't quite understand it, myself. Why would you _cheat_ on Jack? He was so wonderful! Everything you ever wanted."

"Apparently not," Ginny muttered. Trickster raised his hand to slap her, but then thought better of it and lowered it. He then turned to Harry and grinned. "I bet it hurt," he said, "watching her be with me _and _you at the same time. I bet it hurts even now… she probably still loves me, you know. You can't just _unlove _someone in a few minutes." Jack walked close to Ginny and placed a hand around the back of her neck, she tried to move away from him but couldn't. "Gin," Trickster said, although his tone now matched Jack's, "I love you," he whispered. He then leant in, his lips brushing hers. "I never meant to hurt you," he continued. Then kissed her firmly and passionately, his hands around the back of her head. Harry fought against the boundaries that tied him, but he couldn't get loose.

"I'm so confused," Ginny said, when Trickster pulled away.

"Aren't we all?" He said, smiling. He checked his watch for a moment, "wow, I have been talking for a while haven't I! Oh, but I haven't told you the grand plan yet. See, you're all bound up… strong ropes! Good luck trying to get out of those. They also have a charm on them that keeps the one tied stationary… unless I lead you of course! I'm going to lead you all into Vereor Nex, where my trusted associates will place you all in cells. New prisoners! Always fun… and you're going to stay there until you tell us how to bring Voldemort back."

"Impossible," George said, his voice strong. "We can't bring Voldemort back, no one can… even if we wanted to." Trickster shrugged,

"Perhaps not. But either way, you're going to Vereor Nex to be prisoners… so it's a win for me!" He smiled, then turned his back to them. "Follow!" He called, and with a tug Harry felt himself pulled forward by the rope, his feet hovering inches from the ground. They drifted through the woods, and slowly a dark building came into view. It appeared out of nowhere, as if it vaporised out of thin air. Harry looked up at it, feeling his heart hammer in his chest. Vereor Nex.

* * *

_Yep, he's evil. I was actually quite relieved that you all hated him, saved the flames of "oh my god! You ruined such a nice character!" _

_Let me know what you thought my lovelies. I made it a short chapter, because Chapter 22 was so epic. _

_Next chapter will be posted soon_

_Sorry about the double post. I realised as soon as I posted the chapter that I had made a spelling mistake somewhere, and it was bugging me! _

_Pheonixxsong _


	24. Old Friends, New Enemies

**CHAPTER 24 **

**Old Friends, New Enemies**

Harry tried to reach his feet down and touch the floor. He was sure that if he did, he could get some grip on some log or upturned root and would manage to pull himself down. Of course, this didn't happen. He could barely move, yet alone even begin to touch the ground. Trickster was walking determinedly along in front of them, his walk was cheerful though, almost mocking – he _knew _they couldn't escape, and that knowledge was enough to bring a spring to his step. Harry turned to Dylan; he had been keeping his eye on him as they approached the castle. It appeared he was the only one who had a knife within reaching distance, and he was therefore their only hope.

Dylan was grappling with the small knife, with a stiffly clenched jaw and sweat beading making it evident that this wasn't an easy task. The ropes were thick and strong and were tied so hard around his wrists that it cut off circulation. Yet Dylan still sawed, the blade pressed firmly between his index finger and thumb. Ginny was staring at Tricksters back, frowning. Harry hated to admit that he felt some kind of thrill at the fact Jack wasn't who he said he was. Whilst the situation they were in was dire and terrifying, Harry enjoyed the one fact that Jack would no longer be in their lives when and if they left Vereor Nex.

The building loomed large in front of them now. Its levels cascaded down either side. Harry craned his neck painfully to look at the higher levels – hoping to get a glimpse of where Hermione and Ron were kept, but the windows were all identical, it was impossible to distinguish between them. As they continued, the light around them got darker, as if they were walking down a hallway – and yet, they were still outside, caught in a slight breeze. The Aurors were fighting against their restraints, hands turning various shades of crimson as the ropes constricted their wrists.

Suddenly, Death Eaters were all around them in black capes and the Aurors came to a halt mid-air.

"You got my message?" Trickster asked. One of the Death Eaters stalked between each individual, admiring their helplessness. It stopped in front of Harry, and clasped his chin with two fingers either side of his jaw – turning his face left and right as if admiring him.

"You scrub up quite well, don't you Potter?" It was a female voice. "Can barely see any of your scars. We will of course fix that. We've got a wonderful cell, just for you. But this time you'll be by yourself. The only contact with another human you have will be with us as we rip apart your flesh and play with your insides," Harry saw a small smile under the cloak, the teeth flashed white before turning to Trickster.

"You've done well," she said simply.

"_Well?" _Trickster spluttered, "I've done _well?_ That's all you can say? I've done _brilliantly! _I stayed undercover for _years, _and I've captured all of them. I have them tied up, defenseless –and all you can say is that I've done well?"

"You've become a needy one since you've been away, I see. Desperate for attention and praise!" Spat the woman.

"You give praise when it is due," stated Trickster.

"You will be rewarded for your loyalty when The Dark Lord returns. Until then, keep your mouth shut." She replied.

"You are not my superior, Lee, stop treating me as if you are."

"I am (technically speaking) your wife, and thus your superior," she said. Harry heard Ginny make a small noise, one that did not go unnoticed by Trickster or his wife, Lee. They both turned to her then laughed simultaneously for a few moments.

"So this is her," Lee said, walking over to Ginny and clasping her face hard between her hands, just as she had done to Harry a moment before. "She's a pretty one, I'll give you that…" she frowned and whipped out her wand. "_Crucio!" _Ginny started shaking in her bindings, letting out a pained groan through her clenched teeth as her body twisted and turned.

It was at that moment that Dylan dropped to the floor with a thud, his legs giving way. In an instant he whipped out his wand and pointed it at the bindings still around his legs, they broke free. He then turned to Harry and did the same. Trickster, who had been watching Lee torture Ginny with a look of satisfaction on his face, looked up to find the source of the noise. The Death Eaters removed their wands and begun firing at Dylan as he moved amongst the Aurors, who were asking him in worried voices to hurry up and get them down – and with good reason – two tied Death Eaters had already been hit in the cross-fire, unable to defend themselves.

Harry undid the ropes tying Ginny, firing over his shoulder as he did so – before moving to Charlie and George. The Death Eaters kept shooting spells at them; Harry jumped on George and pushed him to the ground, missing a curse by inches. Dylan, whilst undoing another Auror came to Harry's side,

"We'll hold them off – find your friends! Only you know where they are," he said quickly. Harry opened his mouth to protest but Dylan vigorously shook his head, "don't argue Potter, go. They'll be stuck here forever if you don't." Harry fired a spell at a Death Eater who was just about to attack Dylan, sending him flying through the air.

"Don't get killed," Harry said.

"I'll do my best," Dylan replied, clapping Harry on the shoulder before racing off to help two Aurors who were still tied. Harry ran backwards towards the entrance to Vereor Nex, firing off spells as he did so. Ginny, George and Charlie came to his side – they ran beside him.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked, "go help!"

"You need more help than they do," Ginny said, "you're going into the belly of the beast, you need backup." Harry saw another Auror get hit; it fell to the ground with a thud. Trickster, noticing the four of them retreating inside, started running towards them, firing spells as he went. Ginny and Harry send a stunning spell off at the same time, it hit him in the chest and he collapsed. Harry ran towards him, to the protests of the group.

"_What are you doing!_?" They shouted. Harry ran over to Tricksters body and grabbed his sword from Trickster's belt – then bolted back towards Ginny, George and Charlie.

"Run!" Harry yelled to the three of them, "we need to make it so they can't find us."

"They'll know where we're going," George pointed out as they sprinted down the passageway, the sound of the battle getting fainter and fainter. Harry could feel his heart beating hard in his throat whilst his eyes adjusted to the little light.

Finally, the passage opened up into a wide hallway. Long spindly staircases stretched randomly throughout the room, the floor was covered in a dark stone, and the lights were dim and unnerving.

"They should fire the decorator," Charlie muttered, his voice echoed. Harry placed a finger to his lips, signaling for them not to talk. He then proceeded to run towards one of the staircases, all he knew was that his room was up. Up to the top level and on the right side. They climbed the stairs with hurried feet. They stairs led into a long hallway, which twisted in random directions. It was so dark that they could barely see down them. Harry continued to run, refusing to break stride. He ascended more stairs, which led to more hallways, and more stairs. They kept as quiet as possible, meeting only one Death Eater on the stairwell, whom they soon took care of – leaving the discarded body lying sprawled awkwardly against the banister.

Eventually, they could not find any more stairwells. They could not see the roof, so it was impossible to tell how much further they could ascend – and they didn't dare light their wands. Harry led them down a long corridor – one that looked identical to the other hundred they had seen. They kept to the left, walking very slowly and surely and listening carefully for any Death Eaters. Harry felt along the walls with his fingers, glancing at each number as he passed. Suddenly, Harry stopped. There was the distinct sound of clicking heels coming down the hallway behind them. Multiple people, he was sure of it. Harry picked up his pace to a run, hoping whoever it was hadn't seen them. The end of the corridor was near; they rounded the corner and kept running. Harry pointed at a random door and they opened it, finding temporary safety inside.

They moved inside and Harry shut the door, his heart racing in his chest; he leant against it, breathing deeply. Ginny, George and Charlie started looking around the room with equal expressions of curiosity and disgust. The dark stone walls were covered in grime and dust, some coated in something that suspiciously looked like blood. A table was in the centre of the room made of iron. Chains and straps hung limply to the side, curling on the filthy floor. Cells that appeared to be more boxes than rooms were on either side, most empty… but some occupied by people he couldn't tell whether they were dead or alive. A large window gaped at one side, covered in thick wire.

Harry finally moved away from the door, the room sent shivers down his spine. As soon as he took a step, he heard a small voice coming from one of the cells,

"Harry?" He turned to his right, as did everyone else to see the source of the noise. They heard scratching, from a cell almost furthest from them, a figure was pulling itself along the ground, as if its legs had given up, its hands had fingers missing, and one appeared to still be bleeding. Harry frowned slightly and walked up to the cell before leaning down. "Harry," the person said again, "I knew… I knew you would come back." Harry extended a hand through the iron bars between them and pushed away the thick long hair that hung in the figures face, so full of knots and dirt that it was impossible to tell the original colour. Dark eyes looked up at him, a small smile attempted on the woman's lips,

"Hermione?" Harry asked, hand running down her cheek. She took a deep shuddering breath and nodded. Harry felt tears come to his eyes at what had happened to her, scars and wounds scratched across her face, making her almost unrecognisable. "Who are those people behind you?" She asked, looking up at them, "I can't…" she took a deep breath as if every word was painful.

"That's Ginny, George and Charlie… they are here to save you okay? Can you just sit back in your cell; I'm going to get you out of here." Hermione shook her head violently, "No! No, _please!_" She started crying, dark muddy tears streaking her face "don't leave me again Harry!" She reached out and grabbed his wrist,

"I'm not! I promise, please, Hermione, I'm just going to open the gate." She searched his face for a lie, her hand still holding firm to his wrist. Slowly, her grip slackened before she slid back to the corner of her cell, muttering incoherent sobs, over and over, her head cradled in her hands. Harry removed his wand from his pocket with a shaky hand,

"Alohomora!" He yelled, his voice sounding choked. Nothing happened. He turned around to his friends for an explanation, "Alohamora!" Harry yelled again, tears came down his face. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around to see George's, eyes looking over Hermione's crying form,

"I'll do it," George said, clenching his jaw. Harry nodded vaugely, hands still shaking so hard he clasped them together.

"Bombarda!" George yelled, his voice steady, echoing throughout the room. The door shuddered and fell slightly off its hinges. Charlie, George and Harry helped move the door away with a strained effort. Harry gave George, Charlie and Ginny a look that told them to stay back, before he went over to Hermione. He crouched down on the filthy floor and touched her tenderly on the arm. She jumped slightly, as if she didn't see him there, then looked through her hair at him. Hermione's bottom lip trembled,

"Harry," she whispered, her voice hitching. Her hand reached out and touched his cheek. Harry held it,

"I'm not going to leave you again," Harry said. "Never again." He moved to Hermione's side, and lifted her in his arms. She was as light as a child, he could feel her bones against his forearm.

"Wait," Hermione said.

"What?" Harry asked, moving to the entrance of the cell. Hermione's eyes darted between the three red-headed individuals who stood at the cell door before turning back to Harry.

"They took Ron!" She muttered, her voice quiet. "They took him… and… I heard screaming," her body shook as sobs escaped her mouth, "and then there… then there wasn't anymore screaming. I heard them put him into your cell, the one near the window, and I tried to talk to him" She rubbed her eyes with her palms, "But, he wouldn't answer." She took a deep shuddering breathe, Harry passed Hermione to George whose face had gone dead white, Ginny had already ran over to the cell next to the window before Harry got there. A man was lying in the back corner, his face turned away; hair ran down his shoulders and into the dust, an arm lying back in and awkward position.

"Bombarda!" Ginny yelled, the door shook and fell slightly. Harry then pointed his wand at the door and said the same, it richoched off its hinges and fell to the floor with a loud crash.

Ginny ran into the cell and collapsed to her knees, she looked over the man, whose eyes were partially shut and mouth agape.

"Ron," said Ginny, she shook his shoulder, he hung limp in her hand like a rag doll. "Ron!" She said her voice filling to the brim with choked sadness, "_RON!" _She shook him harder, his whole body rocking. A pool of blood soaked his shirt and created a rim around his body. Ginny looked down and touched the blood, then looked up at Harry – tears streamed down her cheeks. She was a pale white, as if she were about to pass out. Harry shook his head,

"No," he muttered, shaking his head, eyes wide. Ginny was still looking at Harry, she had started shaking with sobs, "no," Harry repeated – tears coming to his eyes. "No, Ron... Oh god, Ron." It felt as if the world had come crushing down around him. He felt almost claustrophobic, smothered, he couldn't breath. Ginny was taking deep shuddering breathes as she wrapped her arms around the body, drenching her own sleeves in blood. Harry sat down next to Ginny, and looked over Ron in shock. He was deathly white, his skin almost having a blueish tinge to it.

Ginny let go of Ron and pulled Harry into her embrace, she was shuddering from tears, her hands clutching at his shirt in desperate sadness. They always say that you see your own life flash before your eyes before death. But they never say how when you see death, everything you've ever done with that person comes in a wave of memories. Some almost forgotten. Looking at the body, all Harry could think of was the small eleven-year-old boy on the train with dirt on his nose. The man who almost always had his back no matter what. Harry was so out of it he hadn't noticed George and Charlie come over to Ron. George's eyes were wide and disbelieving as he protectively held Hermione to his chest. Whilst Charlie eyes remained wide and disbelieving. He looked as if he were made of stone.

Suddenly, there was the sound of shuffling feet outside the door and Harry quickly turned around. As the sound grew louder their eyes snapped to the door, it opened an inch before blowing off its hinges, the dust from the door sank down like a curtain, revealing the line of masked Death Eaters, their wands pointed towards the six figures now in a mess on the ground. Harry went to reach for his wand,

"Ah, no Harry, I don't believe reaching for _any_ of your weapons would be particularly wise." Came a deep voice, it was laced with snide cruelty.

"Jack," Charlie growled through gritted teeth. Trickester removed his mask,

"That wasn't nice, _both of you _stunning me." He said, tutting and shaking his head. "Lee put me back, didn't you darling?" Lee removed her mask and nodded. She was beautiful, no doubt – with long curly locks and an angelic face. If it were not for the spark of evil in her eye, she would be the kind of person you'd trust with your child. Trickster looked over the scene in front of him with a curious interest.

"My my, it looks like Ronald Weasley has left the building… and with no help from Potter!" He laughed. Harry heard Hermione wimper against George, her head buried in his chest.

Harry felt Ginny's anger pulse off her, her hands clenched around her sword, knuckles turning white. He grabbed her wrist to stop her from pouncing on Trickster and getting herself killed. He could feel her pulse under his thumb. "Are woo gonna cwy Hawwy?" Trickster asked, his voice mocking. Harry realised he was crushing Ginny's wrist in his grip, so he loosened it – leaving disappearing red marks in it's place. Harry subconciously leant against Ron's body, protecting it from Trickster, who laughed – a smile that stretched and disformed his face.

"We might as well just kill all of your friends now, to save you the trouble of screwing up again and again… you're always the reason everyone around you dies. Your parents, Sirius Black, Dumbledore, Lupin and Tonks – oh yes, I heard about all of them from Ginny. Fred –," Harry took a quick glance at George and noticed a shadow pass his face as Fred's name was mentioned. "And now, Ron. Well done Potter, well done."

"Don't listen to them Harry," he heard Ginny whisper so softly he could only just make out the words.

"And yet!" He continued, "there is more…" he looked back at the Death Eater's behind him, "bring him out," he demanded. Within a split second the Death Eater's separated and Dylan was brought forward, arms tied behind his back – his chin tilted up – a knife pressed so hard against his throat it was drawing blood.

"It's alright Harr -," Dylan had begun, before the knife was pressed a little harder into his neck.

"Let him go." Harry demanded, raising his wand.

"No." Trickster said simply, looking at Harry without an ounce of fear. "He is the last one left of your lovely little gang of Aurors. The rest are downstairs, rather dead…" Trickster turned and nodded at the Death Eater holding onto Dylan. In a flash, the knife was removed from Dylans neck and plunged deep into his gut. Dylan screamed, then grit his teeth as the Death Eater threw him onto the ground. Blood seeped onto the floor. Dylan gasped and choked, hands over the wound, trickling crimson through his fingers.

"And then there were five," Trickster said, smiling.

* * *

_**-hides under a rock- okay, now I'm safe from the flames I'm sure will come! Haha. **_

_**I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Maybe 'enjoyed' isn't the right word… **_

_**Hm, anyway. I'll update soon. Let me know what you thought! **_

_**  
Pheonixxsong**_


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